

B 


I RT H 

0/ 


B 


EREA 


College 




A STORY 


OF PROVIDENCE 
By 


J 


O H N A . 


R . ROGERS 




With an 


Introduction ^j 




Hamilton 


Wright Mabie 

3 3 3 3 3 3' . ' 3 " "■■ 
3 3 3 3 3 ' ' V ^ 




HENRY T. COAXES & COMPANY 




PHILADELPHIA 






MCMIII 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS. 

Two Copies ReeeivMl 

JUL 21 1903 

Copyright Entry 

CLASS (x^ XXc. No. 

^ '^ ^ 

COPY B. 



v^ 



3T 



,^1 



Copyright, 1902, 
By J. A. R. Rogers. 



Published December, 1902. 



i: 



Co |)er 



TO WHOM BEREA COLLEGE IS MORE INDEBTED 

FOR ITS PROSPERITY 

IN ITS EARLIEST YEARS THAN IS KNOWN TO ANY 

ONE EXCEPT THE AUTHOR, 

THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGB 

I. A VINE OF GOD'S PLANTING I 

II. EASTERN KENTUCKY— THE LAND AND 

THE PEOPLE 3 

III. MOVEMENTS FOR EDUCATION AND FREE- 
DOM i6 

IV. A SOUTHERN ABOLITIONIST — JOHN G. 

FEE 21 

V. A GROUP OF PIONEERS . 32 

VI. DARK DAYS 39 

VII. MR. ROGERS OBEYS AN INWARD CALL . 47 
VIII. THE COLLEGE CONSTITUTION .... 66 
IX. MR. HANSON AND HIS SAW MILL ... 76 
X. JOHN BROWN'S RAID AFFECTS KEN- 
TUCKY 81 

XI. DEPARTURE AND RETURN OF THE 

EXILES 95 

XII. REOPENING AFTER THE WAR .... 106 

XIII. THE DONORS - . = . 123 

XIV. THE LIFE OF THE SCHOOL . . . . . .135 

XV. EXTENSION WORK 149 

XVI. THE COLLEGE AND THE CHURCH . . 155 

XVII. ORGANIZATION AND DISCIPLINE . . .159 

XVIII. SUMMARY 167 



INTRODUCTION. 

The story of the founding of Berea Col- 
lege, told in these pages, is one of the 
spiritual romances of American life; a chap- 
ter in that unwritten history of the Ameri- 
can people of which only liints and sugges- 
tions are to be found in the formal records 
of what has been done on this continent; 
for America stands in the last analysis, not 
for incalculable wealth or for a richer pros- 
perity for men and women of all classes, 
but for the recognition of the spiritual value 
of a man as a man without regard to condi- 
tion, station, education or race; and for the 
largest opportunity for individual activity, 
force, talent and character of every liind, 
America is still the open door to a better 
future for the wliole race. 

Berea College was founded in faith, in 
sacrifice, and with toil of spirit, of mind and 
of hand. It had no great founder, no of- 
ficial patrons, no great organization behind 
it. There was nothing behind it save faith 
in God and man, and a passionate devotion 
to the cause of the betterment of human 
life. In the light of this record it is easy 



BEREA COLLEGE 



to understand the later success that has 
come to the college, the unique opportunity 
which is now before it. For men always 
build better than they know, and there lay 
in the spirit which brought Berea College 
into being the prophecy and ultimately the 
reality of a great service to humanity. Such 
a service Berea College is now rendering, 
at the critical moment, to a population of 
nearly two millions of English-speaking peo- 
ples, who live in the recesses and detiles of 
the chain of mountains which President 
Frost has called "Appalachian America." 
Berea College is working for all classes; it 
has students from many States; but, alone 
among colleges, it holds the door open, by 
reason of its spirit, its accessibility, its 
knowledge of the people, to the young men 
and women whose homes are in the moun- 
tains — that magnificent country, so long iso- 
lated, is now being penetrated and opened 
up by roads, by lumbermen, by manufactur- 
ers, by trade of every kind, and its popula- 
tion is being heavily drawn upon by the in- 
dustries of the New South, for it is very 
largely furnishing the operatives for the 
factories which stretch in a long row from 
Charlotte to Spartanburg. The mountain 
people are in that defenseless period which 



INTRODUCTION iii 



comes between long isolation and the 
closest contact with the world. They 
need comprehension, sympathy, guidance; 
and it seems as if Berea College had been 
created in order that it might be the guide, 
the educator and the friend of this great 
population in the most critical period of their 
history. It was founded in faith and sacri- 
fice; it is sustained to-day with equal faith 
and sacrifice. No institution in America is 
doing better or more necessary work on 
more slender revenues. In fact, it may be 
said that it pays for the work which its 
President and instructors render, not in 
money, but in opportunities of sacrifice. 
These men ought not, however, to stand 
alone. They ought to have supporters in all 
parts of the country— men and women glad 
to share Avith them the privilege of helping 
a host of young men and women to enter 
into modern life equipped, trained and edu- 
cated. HAMILTON W. MABIE. 




FIRST SCHOOL BUILDING ERECTED IN BEREA. 



The College was started in that half to the left, 
the extension being made later. Torn down 
vears ago. 



Birth of Berea College. 

A STORY OF PROVIDENCE. 



CHAPTER L 

A VINE OF GOD'S PLANTING. 

BEREA COLLEGE is a school so unique 
and of such national importance that 
many are inquiring about its origin 
and history. The writer is aware of his in- 
ability to answer the inquiry in the way 
which its importance demands; for to pre- 
sent in due proportions and with exact col- 
oring this story requires almost inspiration 
itself, for as the late Professor Tyler said: 
"It is like that of the Acts of the Apostles." 
Berea College is the result of God's provi- 
dence. The men from whose labors it was 
an outgrowth were seeking primarily to give 
a fuller knowledge of Christ's love, and God's 
providence brought into existence the Berea 
School to help in this work. They sowed 
such seed as necessarily produces semina- 



BEREA COLLEGE 



ries of learning. The seed which they scat- 
tered tremblingly, amid fiery persecution, 
was watered and protected by God's own 
hand, and speedily brought forth much fruit, 
of which not the least important was a 
Christian college. The institution itself has 
been a growth from a small beginning. From 
the first, He to Whom it was consecrated 
took it under His own care, and its managers 
have ever had occasion to feel that they 
must not lay unsanctitied hands upon it, and 
that their work is to seek God's guidance 
and follow the course His finger points. Its 
history has been one of struggle with dif- 
ficulties on the part of those conducting it, 
and of care on God's part that the vine of 
His planting should not be destroyed. 

His providences have caused that the very 
efforts of its enemies for its destruction 
should be the means of laying its foundations 
deeper and stronger. He it is who has made 
it a greater power for Christian education 
than some colleges starting with all the re- 
sources of human wisdom and wealth. 



EASTERN KENrUCKT 



CHAPTER II. 

EASTERN KENTUCKY J THE LAND AND 
THE PEOPLE. 

In order to understand the history, work 
and mission of Berea College, it will be need- 
ful to consider briefly the geography and 
people of Eastern Kentucky. 

The State as a whole is a great tableland, 
extending from the Cumberland Mountains 
on the east, to the Mississippi River on the 
west. Its entire central portion is known as 
"The Blue Grass," and is not surpassed for 
beauty and fertility by any portion of our 
country. East of this lies the hill country, 
often, though erroneously, called "the moun- 
tains;" for, with a single exception, there 
are not properly any mountains in the State 
except those of the Cumberland, which sep- 
arate it from the Virginias. This hill coun- 
try, originally a part of the level tableland, 
has in the geologic ages been so cut by wa- 
ter courses that it is almost entirely a succes- 
sion of sharp hills and deep valleys. These 
hills usually vary from three to eight hund- 
red feet in height above the valley. This 



BEREA COLLEGE 



region in the eastern and southeastern part 
of the State embraces more than thirty coun- 
ties, and has an area greater than that of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. 
And the mountain portion of Kentucky is a 
part of the great mountain region of the 
South which embraces portions of seven 
States. 

Kentucky was settled mainly by people 
of Scotch-Irish and English descent from 
Virginia, Western Pennsylvania and North 
Carolina. The fertile ''Blue Grass" country 
attracted the first settlers, who came for the 
most part either along the Ohio River or 
through Cumberland Gap, in the extreme 
southeast of the State. When the fertile 
central portion was occupied, settlers took 
up the valleys of the hill region, coming by 
the same routes or through difficult passes 
in the Cumberland Mountains, but they were 
of the same stock as those who had settled 
in the central region. 

This hill country, owing to its exceedingly 
irregular surface, was destitute of any but 
neighborhood roads, and the people were 
satisfied with the simplest mode of living, 
and had few wants, so that they became 
largely "a people apart," with almost no in- 
tercourse with the rest of the world. They 



EASTERN KENTUCKY 5 



lived a contented life, free and independ- 
ent, with few aspirations for wealth or 
learning. Their hospitality knew no limit. 
Every man counted himself as good as his 
neighbor, from whom he would never brook 
an insult. They lived to some extent by 
hunting, and firearms, often made by local 
smiths, were ever in their hands, which they 
did not hesitate to use upon man as well as 
beast, if they thought needful. They were 
bold and courageous, and not irreligious, but 
had crude conceptions of Christianity. Many 
of their preachers were excellent men, and 
not a few persons led true Christian lives. 
The schoolmaster Avas not abroad, or, if he 
was, equipped only with a knowledge of a 
spelling book and the elements of arithmetic. 
Of geographical knowledge there was almost 
none. The earth to their conceptions was 
very limited, and it was regarded by many 
as un scriptural to say that it turned on its 
axis. 

While there were many men and women 
of noble lives, the moral and social tendency 
was downward. Though there were churches 
in name, there was little organization and 
discipline, and still less of instruction in 
Biblical and Christian truth. The churches 
were mainly Baptist in general belief, with 



BEREA COLLEGE 



the various divisions of that sect, and with 
little sense of unity amonj;- themselves or 
with any part of the church general, of which 
they had scarcely any knowledge. 

Their possessions were few. Most heads 
of families owned small farms with arable 
land in the valley, or on the hill sides. For 
cultivating these farms they used a bull- 
tongue ploAv. Their live stock consisted of a 
cow or two and one or more horses— perhaps 
a few sheep, and dogs a plenty. The house- 
hold goods were meagre in the extreme. Two 
or more beds in the main room, with others 
in the loft: an iron skillet, bakeoven and 
very few dishes for cooking and table use, 
sufficed for the domestic department. Well- 
to-do families possessed a larger quantity of 
these necessities, and also a spinning wheel 
and loom. The women of the familj^ carded, 
spun and wove the wool direct from the 
sheep's backs into clothing for the family, 
as well as blankets and coverlids for the beds. 
Flax was grown, which under the same in- 
dustrious hands was woven into sheets, table 
linen and those things for which the most 
obscure housekeeper finds plenty of use. The 
woolens and linens, though coarse, were the 
pride of the mountain woman's heart, and 
their lasting qualities gave her a great dis- 



EASTERN KENTUCKY 7 



gust for the finer but less enduring "store 
truck." 

Though with so few comforts, the people 
were far enough from being degraded. They 
were not only brave, but self-respecting. As 
President Frost (the present head of the col- 
lege) has shown abundantly, their condition 
was not one of degeneration so much as, in 
his own language, "a case of belated devel- 
opment; those who must be regarded as our 
contemporary ancestors of two or three cen- 
turies since." 

Living apart, with almost no intercourse 
with others, they attracted little attention 
from those outside their borders. Churches 
in the Blue Grass let them go their own way 
without much thought of giving them fuller 
Christian knowledge or educational help. 
There were among the ministers some like 
Francis Hawley. father of Senator Hawley, 
of Connecticut; faithful men, with deep 
Christian convictions on all moral subjects 
and the courage to express them. 

Rev. Francis Hawley was a native of 
North Carolina, who at the invitation of Rev. 
John G. Fee left his State and came to Ken- 
tucky and preached for some months in the 
vicinity of Berea. His hearers remembered 
his distinct prediction, that if slavery was 



BEREA COLLEGE 



not abolished voluntarily it would lead to 
war, and when the Civil conflict came they 
referred to him as a prophet. 

To give a fuller knowledge of this region, 
some extracts are given from letters pub- 
lished in the Ncav York Independent, in 1858, 
giving a description of a tour through South- 
western Kentucky by Rev. John G. Fee and 
Rev. J. A. R. Rogers, for learning more per- 
fectly the cliaracter and needs of the region, 
and also for preacliing the Gospel and stir- 
ring up the people on the subject of educa- 
tion. 

Mr. Rogers in his description says: 
"Tliough already somewhat acquainted 
with tills region, I was impressed more deep- 
ly than ever befoi-e with the lack of indus- 
try and enterprise. Though I traveled over 
productive lands which can be bought at 
prices varying from one to five dollars an 
acre, I did not see any other than a log 
house— frequently not for thirty miles. The 
use of glass for windows is in some localities 
scarcely known. I was recentlj^ at the house 
of a mountaineer living within eight miles of 
the Blue Grass, who owned hundreds of 
acres of land, who probably never thought of 
having a pane of glass in his cabin. Corn 
bread, coffee and bacon are the universal 



EASTERN KENTUCKT 



articles of diet, and many families taste rare- 
ly little of anything else, except vegetables 
in the summer time. One of the mountain 
men I saw was in form and feature and bear- 
ing a perfect facsimile of a Spanish cavalier 
of the olden time. The degree of admiration 
I felt for him was lessened when I visited 
his cheerless cabin, occupied by a numerous 
family, alike destitute of knowledge and 
comforts. * * * 

"The next morning we started onward at 
dawn and took breakfast with a widow, rich 
in faith and noble children, but destitute of 
worldly goods. The news of our approach 
had preceded us, and a lovely daughter of 
ten summers, sick with fever, could not be 
pacified until she was dressed and brought 
to the door to greet us. Greater heroism was 
not manifested in the days of the American 
Revolution by mothers or daughters than by 
this widow and her children during the anti- 
slavery persecution a year since. The hour 
we spent there will never be forgotten. The 
eldest son, seventeen years old, and the main 
staj" of the family, was very anxious to at- 
tend the Berea School the coming term. The 
younger children participated in the same de- 
sire. We were all discussing whether it was 
practicable for the family to move to Berea 




OLD GLADE CHURCH. 



Where Mr. Fee, Mr. Rogers, and others, preached 
long before the War. Photo taken in 1868. 



EASTERN KENTUCKT 1 1 



—but to give the particulars of that hour's 
conversation would be to transgress the laws 
of domestic privacy. Never did a Chancellor 
of the Exchequer devise ways and means to 
meet a present call more f.arnestly than did 
that widow to secure to her children the ad- 
vantages of education. It was decided that 
John must go to school six months at all 
events, then he could teach; and then— but 
I must forbear. To secure this the older 
girls must harvest the corn, which they vol- 
unteered to do with all the enthusiasm of 
sisterly love. We felt sure that blessings 
such as fell to the fair reaper from whom 
sprang David and David's greater son would 
fall to these reapers not less fair. * * 
"In a school I visited I observed the pu- 
pils went out and came in as they pleased. 
The teacher sat with his heels on a desk. 
Before I left, he commanded his scholars to 
study; thereupon the members of the school 
set their lungs as well as their eyes to work. 
Spelling, which with reading and writing 
not unusually comprises the whole course of 
study, was the order for the hour. A roar 
ensued not unlike that of a park of artil- 
lery. The air seemed filled with splinters of 
words and syllables. After the first burst 
of enthusiasm ceased, sundry diligent ones 



12 BEREA COLLEGE 



kept up a running tire, which continued till 
we left. * * * 

"While playing Bo-peep with the knobs we 
suddenly came iu sight of a rich oasis, sur- 
rounded by an amphitheatre of hills. The 
Vale of Tempe was not more beautiful. The 
solitary mansion in the centre, surrounded 
by huts, almost hidden by the far-stretching 
fields of grain, indicates that whatever bright 
spirits preside over tliis scene of beauty, it 
is not beyond the reach of "the peculiar 
institution." We had occasion to make some 
inquiries whicli introduced us to tlie lord of 
the manor, a widower of sixty, and, as lie 
told us, the onlj^ white person on the place, 
which, notwithstanding its natural beauty, 
'wore an air of sad desolation.' He seemed a 
kind man, who had enjoyed few if any ad- 
vantages of education, and now was very, 
very lonely. I remembered to have seen but 
one man who inspired in me so much sad- 
ness. Of royal mien, he show^ed in every 
sentence and movement how much the un- 
toward circumstances of ignorance and un- 
limited power may do to crush the noblest 
qualities. * * * 

"Pressing forward we reached the Cumber- 
land River. For miles along this beautiful 
stream we find no trace, besides our half- 



EASTERN KENTUCKT 13 



beaten path, to lead us to suppose that we 
are in a world inhabited by man. The bare 
cliffs rise in places in imposing grandeur, 
hundreds of feet above the river, while anon 
the hills recede one after another, forming a 
panorama of peculiar beauty. The whole 
scene makes one breathe freely. We are no 
longer in a world of haste. The mountains 
seem to enjoy their perfect leisure, and the 
water skips from rock to vock only because 
it has nothing else to do. 

*'Our journey of twenty miles beyond the 
river ran through an almost unbroken wilder- 
ness, but afforded much of interest. At 12 
M., on Saturday, we readied the house of a 
late magistrate, where we found an au- 
dience waiting to listen to an address on 
West India emancipation. Tlie next day we 
met at the church for public worship. Our 
meeting house, of course of logs, as no other 
material is used in this region, was in a nar- 
row defile. The gable ends had never been 
boarded, but now were shaded by a dense 
thicket which had sprung up, grasping tight- 
ly the house on three sides. The effect of the 
shading was finer than that produced by 
richest cathedral windows. Around the 
outside of the room, which was twenty by 
forty feet, were slab benches. The other 



14 BEREA COLLEGE 



seats were of rails. The pulpit was about 
three feet square, but made up in height all 
lack in other dimensions. As to the audi- 
ence, the males defiled to the right and the 
females to the left, each person shaking 
hands with all those passed until a seat was 
found. One good woman continued smoking 
her pipe as she came in, but relinquished it 
a few moments after she was seated. Soon 
after we arrived a sturdy mountaineer, with 
a sweet voice, notwithstanding its nasal 
tone, commenced one of those wild melodies 
{^oken of by Mrs. Stowe in 'Dred,' in which 
he was joined by the Avhole congregation. 
All felt the influence of the words and music, 
and this fact must disarm criticism. The 
people listened very attentively to the pre- 
sentation of the Gospel, both in the morning 
and afternoon. At the close of the second 
sermon, upon the suggestion of the resident 
minister, all the friends of the Lord Jesus 
came forward to the stand and gave the 
strange preachers the right hand of fellow- 
ship. The scene was an affecting one, and 
not a few tears were shed." 

The conditions described as belonging to 
Eastern Kentucky pertain to a large extent 
to the whole Appalachian region in neigh- 
boring States, which has now (1902) above 



EASTERN KENTUCKY 15 



3,000,000 inhabitants of English and Scotch- 
Irish stock. 

It was more especially for the benefit of 
this interesting but neglected part of our 
country that Berea College was founded, 
though in tlie expectation that it would be a 
blessing to all classes, colored and white. 
The political importance of this region has 
not yet been fully realized, though it played 
a great if not a decisive part in the Civil 
War. 

General Cassius M. Clay had taken note 
that those wlio owned land, but not slaves, 
were the people who would especially favor 
freedom, and had devoted himself to this 
class. 



i6 



BEREA COLLEGE 



CHAPTER III. 



MOVEMENTS FOR EDUCATION AND 
FREEDOM. 

The influences which led to the founding of 
the Berea School were both general and spe- 
cific. Among the general influences were 
those missionary educational and anti-slavery 
movements which per- 
vaded the whole land 
about the middle of 
the last century 
which led to the great 
activity in home mis- 
sions, the founding of 
colleges, and the op- 
posing of slavery on 
the part of many 




Mr. Rogers in 1856. 



churches, North and South. 

From 1840 to 1850 the discussions on the 
subject of slavery led many to feel, with 
great intensity, that American slavery, how- 
ever its evils might be modified in the hands 
of good men, was itself an institutior so con- 
trary to the light of the nineteenth century 



EDUCATION— FREEDOM 17 



and to the law of love that it must be op- 
posed in all lawful ways by Christian men. 
As many of the missionary bodies seemed 
almost indifferent to this evil, which was 
rooting itself more firmly in a large part of 
the country, a new organization was formed, 
which was pledged to promote missions 
which should not in any way countenance 
slavery. 

That society was named the American 
Missionary Association,* and it had a most 
important part in the establishment and 
growth of Berea College. Though it did not 
found the school, and was never responsible 
for it, this association gave its support to 
those who did found it, and was a most im- 
portant factor in its success. None the less, 
from the first the school was a Kentucky 
college, on Kentucky soil, with Kentuckians, 
native and adopted, for its promoters. Even 
its liberty-loving character was by no means 
wholly an importation from the North. More 
than a score of years before the college had 

*This society was organized in Albany, N. Y., in 1846, 
by delegates from churches in different parts of the 
land, and named "The American Missionary Associa- 
tion." Four societies which had for their object home 
missions, missions among the Indians, missions for the 
negroes in the West Indies and missions in Africa, were 
merged into this. 



1 8 BEREA COLLEGE 



an existence the Presbj'terian Synod of Ken- 
tucky adopted a paper on the subject of 
shivery, which in the judgment of this 
writer was one of the clearest, strongest and 
wisest deliverances on slavery ever made. 
In Kentucky were many men like James G. 
Birney, one of the founders of the univer- 
sity at Danville; President Young, of the 
same institution; Professor James A. Thome. 
Judge Burnam and other worthy compeers 
who were in favor of freedom for all. 

The courageous work of Cassius M. Clay 
is well known, and indirectly had its influ- 
ence upon the location of the school at Berea. 

At this time Rev. John G. Fee had recently 
established in Lewis, one of the hill coun- 
ties of Kentucky on the Olvio River, a church 
which refused fellowship with slaveholders. 
Owing to continued opposition from his 
Presbytery for his anti-slavery opinions, Mr. 
Fee felt compelled to withdraw from it, and 
later was commissioned by this Association 
as one of its ministers. 

If any question the propriety of organiz- 
ing churches which excluded slaveholders 
from membership, let it be remembered that 
this story is a presentation of facts, not of 
arguments for any given course. Let it also 
be kept in mind that Christian movements 



EDUCAriON— FREEDOM 19 



are carried on in broad lines, and do not 
wait to consider exceptional cases. How- 
ever good and wise may have been many 
who held the relation of master to slave, Mr. 
Fee argued that the system of American 
slavery which gave to masters the legal pow- 
er of separating parents and children, hus- 
bands and wives, and of using the unpaid 
labor of slaves for their own profit, was an 
evil with which the Church must grapple, 
and one which the providences of God at 
that time showed should be considered and 
acted upon according to the law of love. It 
was the effort to give Christianity this prac- 
tical turn, and not to preach any new doc- 
trine, which influenced the American Mis- 
sionary Association and its missionaries to 
take their course on slavery. 

Mr. Fee's labors, and especially as a pio- 
neer missionary of the Association in the 
border counties of Kentucky, and later in 
other parts of the State amid violent op- 
position, constituted so important a part of 
the influences which led to the establishing 
of the Berea School and to giving it its pecu- 
liar character, as to call for a sketch of his 
life. 




REV. JOHN G. FEE. 



JOHN G. FEE 21 

CHAPTER IV. 

A SOUTHERN ABOLITIONIST— JOHN G. FEE. 

John Gregg Fee was a native of Kentucky, 
whose ancestors had long lived in the State, 
solid, substantial people of eminent respect- 
ability. His father, like most planters of 
means, was a slaveholder. His parents were 
God-fearing Presbyterians, and their son, 
John, received the religious training of 
children in those days. He took his col- 
legiate course at Miami University and Au- 
gusta College, Ky., and studied theology in 
Lane Seminary. While there he became 
fully convinced not only that slavery was 
wrong, but that the Church should oppose it, 
even to refusing fellowship to those holding 
slaves. His feelings were so deeply moved 
on this subject that he decided to give up his 
plans to go as a foreign missionary, and 
labor in his own State as a minister, using 
all his influence against slavery, though it 
might lead to shame and spitting, and even 
death. 

After debating this subject with himself 
for a long time, the final struggle came in 
a grove back of Lane Seminary, where on 



22 BEREA COLLEGE 



his knees he gave himself anew to his Mas- 
ter and said: "Lord, if need be, make me 
an abolitionist." 

After he left the seminarj^ he had many 
trying- experiences, and was cast ont of his 
father's home for his course witli regard to 
slavery. 

Finally he settled in Lewis county, on the 
Ohio River, where lie established a church, 
which, as has been said, refused fellowship to 
slaveholders. 

In Bracken, an adjoining county, he es- 
tablished a similar church, and ministered 
to these two faithfully for some years. Dur- 
ing this period he was waylaid, shot at, club- 
bed, stoned and subjected to constant per- 
secutions of various kinds, but he went on 
his way patiently and hopefully, when re- 
viled, reviling not again, but calmly trust- 
ing in God and seeking such protection as 
he could get from the courts, though this 
was often very meagre. He preached to such 
as would hear him, and his life, known 
throughout this region, preached to many who 
never saw him. He gathered into his 
churches many faithful people, who showed 
the same heroism as their pastor. Conspic- 
uous among them were the Marshalls and 
the Boyds. Among the young people of his 



JOHN G. FEE 23 



church was Obed Marshall, a single speci- 
men of whose heroism is given as a sample 
of that of many others. Mr. Waters relates 
of him that when one of the members of 
the church was arraigned and put on trial 
before the County Court, at Maysville, upon 
a trumped up charge of inciting slaves to es- 
cape, Marshall, not yet 20 years old, w^as 
summoned as one of the witnesses for the de- 
fense. 

"The courtroom was crowded and the town 
was seething with excitement. Marshall was 
the first witness called for the defense. When 
turned over, after giving his direct testi- 
mony, to the prosecution for cross-examina- 
tion, the first question hurled at him by the 
State's attorney was: 'Are you an abolition- 
ist?' The croAvded courtroom was still as 
death. A moment's pause, and then came 
the answer, clear, distinct, without a tremor: 
'Yes, I am, and I am not ashamed to own it 
before God and the holj^ angels.' " 

The number of noble men and women in 
the Bracken Church was even greater than 
in that in Lewis. Many of them were in 
high repute, not only in their own county, 
but in that part of the State. Mr. Hanson's 
fine house, with its broad porches, was not 
more conspicuous than were its occupants 



24 BEREA COLLEGE 



for every good word and work. Mr. Hamil- 
ton's hospitality was notable even in Ken- 
tucky, and accepted as widely as it was ex- 
tended. Mr. Gregg's Quaker ancestry showed 
itself in his benign countenance, and Mr. 
Humlong, with his tall figure and some- 
what taciturn ways, might have been taken 
for one of the pioneers of the State. The 
loving kindness of the matrons in these and 
like homes could not be surpassed. 

When Mr. Fee was preaching in Lewis 
and Bracken counties, Cassius M. Clay was, 
by the press and by speeches, opposing slav- 
ery in other parts of the State, and especial- 
ly in Madison county, in the center of the 
State, where he resided. Learning of Mr. 
Fee's work he gave him a cordial invitation 
to go to Madison and preach a series of ser- 
mons, and if thought advisable, organize a 
church. 

Accordingly he went to the Glades, in the 
southern end of the county, and held a se- 
ries of meetings. As Berea College was after- 
ward founded and located upon the ridge 
surrounding the Glades, a full description of 
the locality seems called for. 

The Glades are a perfectly level tract, in 
elliptical form, containing one or two square 
miles, and not many centuries since were the 



JOHN G. FEE 25 



bottom of a lake. To a person standing in 
the middle of this tract and looking north- 
ward appear detached groves of small inter- 
twined oaks extending to the rolling Blue 
Grass region. Looking southward at that 
time one could see neither fence nor cultiva- 
tion nor tree, except the old Glade Oak, with 
wide extending branches, like a lone monarch 
without subjects. To the southeast, south 
and southwest of the Glades rises with 
gradual slope a ridge 100 feet in height and 
two miles in length, with a plateau on its 
top varying from an eighth to a half mile in 
width. Beyond this ridge to the southward 
and across Silver Creek Valley rise "The 
Mountains." 

The beholder standing beside the Glade 
Oak sees to the southeast, three miles dis- 
tant, Joe's Lick Knob, a lofty eminence apart 
from the rest of the mountains. To the 
right of this rises the Blue Lick Range, with 
east and west pinnacles, and still farther to 
the right Bear Knob, then with a valley be- 
tween Lee's Knob, and then a continuous 
range to the southwest. In the rest of the 
horizon, northward around to the place of 
first observation, lies the beautiful rolling 
country which is the pride of all Kentuck- 



a6 BEREA COLLEGE 



Thus it will be seen that the ridge, to use 
a military expression, is the first line of 
works, and the mountains beyond impregna- 
ble fortresses. This ridge, upon which the 
village of Berea and Berea College were af- 
terward built, seems to stretch its arms 
around the Glades and a portion of the 
Blue Grass, and is the natural stepping stone 
into the mountains along Round Stone and 
Red Licli Valleys; for, strange as it may 
seem, here the streams run into the moun- 
tain ranges instead of away from them, God 
having fashioned all this country with refer- 
ence to the school afterward to be planted 
here, and made it a gateway into the moun- 
tains. 

To this region, so full of interest because 
of its natural beauty and because it was an 
open gateway into the mountains to the east- 
ward and southward, Mr. Clay brought Mr. 
Fee. Had they been geologists they would 
have been delighted at seeing here, within a 
few miles, strata from the upper coal meas- 
ures down througli the black, Lingula 
shales of the ridge to the Devonian and Si- 
lurian groups to the northward. As it was, 
they hardly could have failed to note its his- 
torical interest. Two miles to the south was 
Boone's Gap, through which Daniel Boone 



JOHN G. FEE 11 



came from North Carolina by way of Cum- 
berland Gap, passing en route the place 
where, half a century later, Abraham Lin- 
coln was to be born. At the Gap, which 
bears his name, he got his first sight of that 
portion of Kentucky, then the favorite hunt- 
ing ground of the Indians and later to be 
the pride of the State. 

Let us take a look at Mr. Fee as he ap- 
proaches the old Glade Meeting House be- 
side the Glade Spring, and a little grove 
where on summer afternoons he is to preach 
his first series of sermons in that locality. As 
we approach the church, a large but unat- 
tractive log building, we fall in with groups 
on horseback, men, women and children. 
Whatever group we fall in with we shall re- 
ceive a cordial salutation and cannot fail to 
admire the fine horses and the fine types of 
physical beauty of their riders. A Northerner 
would see here a tj^e of face and bearing 
unusual to him, but very attractive. He 
would see no traces of cankering care. Life 
has evidently been to them free and joyous 
and without strain. Though they are going 
to church, their faces show no signs of gloom 
or special sobriety. Evidently they have 
not been given to introspection and that type 
of piety which never loses sight of self. 



28 BEREA COLLEGE 



When the hour for opening the meeting ar- 
rives, Mr. Fee enters the pulpit, gives out 
a hymn, reads a Scripture and prays. Then 
anotlier hymn is sung with an earnestness 
and fulhiess of tone wliich moves the lieart 
and prepares for the sermon. The preacher 
is of medium height, square built, with large 
head, deep-set eyes and an expression of face 
whicli indicates an invincible will. His man- 
ner is calm but earnest, and grows in in- 
tensity as he proceeds, witli shoulders thrown 
up and head bent forward. He makes liis 
points clearly and quotes Scripture for ev- 
ery one of his propositions. As you listen 
you are convinced that he believes every 
word he says without a shadow of doubt, 
and lias a message of great Importance to his 
hearers. 

When the meeting closes the people do 
not hurry away, but gatlier in knots and 
discuss the sermon, but also tlie crops and 
county politics. 

After a few sermons, given day after day, 
some are convinced that Mr. Fee is right, 
and a church opposing slavery is formed, 
with the help of Rev. Mr. Fisk. The mem- 
bers are partly from the section near the 
Glades and partly from that south of the 
ridge already described. The people of this 



JOHN G. FEE 29 



vicinity, until you get quite into "Ttie Moun- 
tains," differ but little from those just de- 
scribed, and all have great love of out-door 
life and neighborly intercourse. Many per- 
sons know a large part of the people living in 
their own county. 

Mr. Fee preached in other neighborhoods 
in the vicinity and was well received, and 
then returned to his home in Lewii county, 
but a few months later returned to Madison 
countj' and became pastor of the church he 
and Mr. Fisk had organized. Mr. Clay had 
told him that if he would move to the Glade 
district he would give him some land for a 
home, and presented him a suiall tract on 
the ridge described, where he built a house 
and made a home. When a postoffice was 
secured he named it Berea, from the place 
of that name mentioned in the Scriptures. In 
going there he was not moved by pecuniary 
considerations, for no man paid less regard 
to money when any principle was at stake. 

It was in the fall of 1854 that Mr. Fee, 
with his wife and children, moved to Berea. 
He had married, just before first going to 
Lewis county, Matilda Hamilton, of Bracken 
county, a high-spirited, courageous and no- 
ble woman, devoted to her husband, who 
stood bravely with him in all his persecu- 




MRS. JOHN G. FEE. 



JOHN G. FEE 31 



tions, never shrinking from sharing his dan- 
gers. 

All her traits were those of the best class 
of Kentuckians. She loved God's out-doors, 
in which she lived as much as possible, rid- 
ing her horse as one to the manner born to 
see the sick, or cultivating her flowers, and 
always with the free spirit of one who had 
never been kept in cramped-up quarters. 

They had six children, who were worthy of 
their parents. 



32 BEREA COLLEGE 



CHAPTER V, 

A GROUP OF PIONEERS. 

When Mr. Fee went to the centre of the 
State the churches to which he had minis- 
tered called Rev. Mr. Davis to be their pas- 
tor, and the American Missionary Associa- 
tion assumed a part of liis support. 

Rev. James Scott Davis was a native of 
Virginia. His paternal ancestors for genera- 
tions had been literary men, his grandfather 
having edited a magazine in Philadelpliia. 
His fatlier, like so many of tlie noblest men 
of the South, disapproved of slavery, and 
while James Scott was still in his boyhood 
moved to Peoria, 111., where lie owned and 
edited a newspaper. His son James went 
to Knox College, at Galesburg, and graduat- 
ed with distinction. While in college lie was 
a favorite of President Blanchard, and high- 
ly esteemed in the town. After graduation 
he studied theology at Obeiiin, where he was 
active in religious work. One of the finest 
scholars in the country says that he heard 
a discussion by Mr. Davis while he was still 
in the theological seminary which he rarely 
ever heard equaled for cogency and clear- 



PIONEERS 33 



ness. He had a ready wit. He was a de- 
lightful companion and was eminently wor- 
thy to follow Mr. Fee. 

His wife was a superior woman, of great 
piet5% always earing for the poor and help- 
ing her husband in his ministerial work in 
all those ways in which a true wife can give 
her aid, and was a great power for good in 
the community. Her work as a visitor in 
the homes of all, and especially of the poor, 
and as a teacher in the Sunday school, was 
scarcely less important than that of her hus- 
band. 

Mr. Davis gave himself especially to build- 
ing up the churches in the faith, developing 
the children and youth of the church. Though 
hated because of his opposition to slavery 
and his connection with churches which were 
under a ban, for some years he encountered 
no violent opposition.* 

When, after the John Brown raid, in com- 
mon with all public persons openly opposing 
slavery, he was driven from the State, he 
showed no craven fear, and when afterward 
he met violent opposition in Southern Illi- 



*For a time his principles were so obnoxious and threats 

against him so abundant that one of his deacon? often, 
when he was preaching, sat in front of the pulpit with 
a loaded gun in his hand. 



34 BEREA COLLEGE 



nois for bis anti-slavery sentiments, he ex- 
hibited the same coolness and high eounige. 
He had the fearlessness whicli was his inher- 
itance from his Virginia ancestry and the 
clear consciousness of doing bis duty. 

At this time the American Missionary So- 
ciety determined to extend its work in the 
Kentucky mountains, and appointed a num- 
ber of young men, mainly students in theol- 
ogy, to teach and preach there during their 
long vacations, hoping that ultimately they 
would make this their permanent field of 
labor. The Society could offer them very 
little pecuniary inducement to engage in 
this Avork, and their reward must be mainly 
in the privilege of helping those who needed 
light and knowledge. Led by such motives, 
only the most worthy offered themselves. 

The first of these was George Candee, who 
was born in Central New York, but reared 
in Michigan, then an almost unbroken wil- 
derness. When a youth he had so deep an 
experience of God's love and grace that he 
could but tell to others of the blessings await- 
ing them. 

After preliminary studies he took his theo- 
logical course at Oberlin Seminary, at the 
time when President Finney and Professor 
iNIorgan were in their prime. The latter was 



PIONEERS 35 



especially Impressed with Mr. Candee's logi- 
cal power. His presence was such as to in- 
spire all ATho saw liim with his thorough 
honesty and the depth of his convictions. 

Mr. Candee spent at that time four months 
with Mr. Fee, preaching in that region, and 
then returned to Oberlin till the following 
fall, when he went to Kentucky again, and 
preached regularly at Clear Creek for five 
months. Later, after his graduation and 
marriage, he went with his wife to Pulaski 
county, where she taught school and he 
preached the Gospel in that and surrounding 
neighborhoods. Before many months the 
building used for school and preaching was 
burned to the ground. After this they moved 
to Jackson, just organized as a county, and 
remained there until the Civil War broke out. 
He preached in various parts of Jackson and 
adjoining counties, and stood, with his cour- 
ageous and most Christian wife, Avho was a 
model of love and patience, as bright lights 
in all that region. 

Mr. Candee was followed by Otis B. 
Waters, also reared in Michigan. When a 
youth he came under the influence of Dr. R. 
C. Kendzie, the noted authority in chemistry, 
who was his instructor. When 22 years of 
age, without any special external influence, 



26 BEREA COLLEGE 



he came to a crisis in his life and devoted 
himself to his Lord to serve Him in any way 
he could. In 1853 he went to Oberlin, where 
he remained until he graduated from theol- 
ogy, except while absent teaching and 
preaching during vacation m Kentucky. 

He taught two winters in Bracken county. 
In November, 1856, he received a commission 
from the American Missionary Society to 
work Avith Mr. Fee in the central part of the 
State. He went to the Cummins neighbor- 
hood, in Rock Castle county, to hasten the 
completion of a log house for school and 
preaching purposes. By dint of hard work, 
assisted by others, the house was finished 
in .January, and as he had but a few Aveeks 
to teach, and more than half his pupils, old 
and young, did not know the alphabet, he 
improvised the modern methods of teaching 
words, and then analyzing them. By rea- 
son of the enthusiasm he aroused, and his 
skill and inventive power, his pupils made 
remarkable progress. The school was what 
is called ''mixed." One of the most thrifty 
and prosperous men in the neighborhood and 
living in one of the best houses was a mulat- 
to. His children attended the school without 
any opposition from the people of the neigh- 



PIONEERS 37 



borhood. The next winter Mr. Waters 
taught in Berea. 

Mr. William E. Lincoln was a native of 
London, England, and when a young man, 
under the preaching of Mr. Finney, then in 
London, became interested in Oberlin. When 
Mr. Finney returned to America, he, with 
several others, accompanied him to Oberlin, 
where he studied for some years. 

Mr. Lincoln was tall and commanding in 
his person, and joined in vacations, like all 
the others mentioned, heartily in the work 
of preaching and teaching in Madison and 
adjoining counties. 

John White, the son of a Methodist min- 
ister, near Cincinnati, Ohio, was another of 
this band of young missionaries, and preach- 
ed with simplicity of heart and earnest pur- 
pose in Rock Castle and Madison counties. 

Mr. Richardson, a man of gentle and lov- 
ing spirit, went to Williamsburg, the county 
seat of Whitley county, and began a school 
there, but was soon mobbed and driven 
away. At that place there is now a flourish- 
ing academy and prosperous church, which 
have grown up through the labors of recent 
missionaries of the American Missionary 
Association. Tentative efforts, which at the 



38 BEREA COLLEGE 



time seem unavailing, are often afterward 
productive of great results. 

Besides these laborers, several Kentuck- 
ians were appointed colporteurs, whose work 
from house to house Avas to promote the 
cause of education and religion. Among 
these was Peter West, of Kock Castle coun- 
ty, father of Captain James West, from 
whom one of the posts of the G. A. R. was 
afterward named. Another was Mr. Jones, 
of Jackson count3% the father of eighteen 
children, all of wliom it is believed were a 
credit to their parents. Of those in Lewis 
county the name of Mr. Gillespie is remem- 
bered. 



DARK DATS i^g 



CHAPTER VI. 

DARK DAYS. 

Mr. Clay, who at this period was making 
addresses in this portion of the State upon 
the evils of slavery, often asked Mr. Fee to 
speak with him; to which invitation Mr. Fee 
gladly assented. At one time, as related by 
Mr. Waters: 

''Mr. Clay, in a speech at the court house 
in Mt. Yernon, standing in the judge's desk 
and taking up deliberately a book contain 
ing the Constitution of the State, said: 'Gen- 
tlemen, I hold in my liands the Constitution 
of Kentucky, which guarantees to every cit- 
izen the right of free speech.' Laying it 
down upon one side he took up the court 
copy of the Bible: 'And here, gentlemen, I 
have the Bible, the charter of religious duty 
and liberty; it bids us prove all things and 
hold fast that which is good.' Laying it down 
on the other side, he, with the same slow de- 
liberation, drew forth a formidable revolver, 
and laying it down in the centre, said: 'And 
here, gentlemen, flanked on either side by 
the charters of civil and religious liberty, I 




REV. JOHN G. FEE. 
From a daguerreotype taken before the Civil War, 



DARK DATS 41 



propose if it shall be challenged, to vindi- 
cate my right to say to-day whatever I 
shall deem best' " 

On the Fourth of July, 1856, when Mr. 
Clay and ^Ir. Fee were making speeches at 
Slate Lick Springs, near Berea, they came 
into collision on the subject of '*The Higher 
Law," Mr. Fee asserting that it must be 
obeyed, even if contrary to human law, Mr. 
Clay taking the ground that while a human 
law was on the statute books it must be 
obeyed, right or wrong. Both argued ear- 
nestly for their respective positions, and the 
discussion led Mr. Clay to withdraw his sup- 
port from Mr. Fee. 

This was one of the greatest trials of Mr. 
Fee's life, not so much because it threw a 
cloud over their friendship, as because it 
took away from him the countenance of 
many anti-slavery men in that region who 
had previously stood by him. Still he held 
on his way, feeling that he must not com- 
promise the truth for fear of consequences. 

Then followed violent mobs in different 
counties in which Mr. Fee had appoint- 
ments for preaching. He w^as dragged from 
the pulpit, threatened and maligned, but he 
kept on preaching the Gospel of love where- 
soever he could find persons to listen. Few 



42 BEREA COLLEGE 



men, however, had the courage to go to hear 
a man so generally spoken against. 

In these times of darkness, when few men 
dared to cross his threshold, there was one 
who would go to his house and visit, and 
as he left, weep over his children. 

This was Hamilton Kawlings, familiarly 
known as "Uncle Ham Rawliugs." Mr. 
Rawlings was a typical Southerner— tall, 
very swarthy, with an eagle eye and pierc- 
ing voice. When excited his words flowed 
with almost the rapidity of lightning, and 
with deadly execution. He was absolutely 
fearless and always ready to talk against 
slavery in public and private. He was well 
read and no one could withstand his logic 
and invective. 

He was very fond of quoting poetry and 
from the Bible. He was with Mr. Fee in 
Berea when Mr. Fee saw for the first time 
the place which had been selected for him 
for a home. When Mr. Fee remarlved, "This 
is a dreary spot to bring a family," Mr. 
Rawlings replied: 
"Prisons would palaces prove 

If Jesus would dwell with me there." 

Again Mr. Fee said, "There is no water 
here for man or beast." Quick came Mr. 



DARK DATS 43 



Rawlings' answer: "Moses smote the rock 
and the Avaters gushed forth." 

Mr. Waters was once spending a night with 
Mr. Rawlings at a time when scarcely a per- 
son in Kentucky would have harbored him. 
In the course of the eyening Mr. Rawlings 
shoAved him a fine silver-mounted revolver 
and bowie knife given him by his special 
friend, Cassius M. Clay. Mr. Waters ventur- 
ed mildly to protest against the fighting spir- 
it, when his host fired up in an instant, and 
flashed out: 

"Young man, such people as you could not 
stay in these parts a week but for such men 
as I, with our revolvers and bowie knives." 

The last and worst mob of this period was 
near the Kentucky River, and is given at 
some detail to show what faithful men at 
that time encountered in their work as mis- 
sionaries and colporteurs. 

In February, 1858, Mr. Fee had an appoint- 
ment to preach near the Big Bend of the 
Kentucky River. Before he reached the chap- 
el he was advised not to go, as there would 
probably be trouble; but he was not a man 
to turn back. In the middle of his sermon 
three men entered the door with guns in 
their hands, and with horrible oaths criea 
out: 



44 BEREA COLLEGE 



"Stop and come out!" 

He preached on. Then the infuriated men 
rushed forward, and seizing him by his coat 
collar and arms, dragged him to the door, 
where one of the crowd outside, pulling a 
rope from his pocket, swore they would hang 
him if he did not promise to leave the coun- 
ty and not return. Failing to secure such a 
promise they brought out Mr. Jones, a moun- 
tain man and colporteur, a companion of Mr. 
Fee, and marched them off to the Kentucky 
River and threatened to drown them. On the 
bank of the river they ordered Mr. Jones to 
strip himself, and in obedience to the com- 
mand he removed his coat. 

"Take oft' your jacket," the leader cried 
out. 

He did so. 

"Now" your shirt; strip to the red." 

Mr. Jones hesitated, when the leader strip- 
ped him to his bare back, bent him down, 
and with three heavy sycamore w^hips 
struck him many severe blow^s, leaving cruel 
welts upon his body. The leader, turning to 
Mr. Fee with an oath, said: 

"I will give you five hundred times as 
much, if you do not promise to leave the 
county and never return." 

Mr. Fee replied: "I will take my suffer- 



DARK DATS 45 



ing first," and knelt down. One of tbe crowd 
cried out: 

"Don't strike him," and another cried, 
*'Don't strike him." 

The men finally concluded to let him go, 
and mounted him on his horse, put Mr. Jones 
behind him, and sandwiching them in be- 
tween a long line of mounted men, who went 
two by two before and behind them, they 
marched them on their way two miles, when 
the captain cried out to his men: "Right- 
about wheel/' and left the persecuted ones 
to go on their homeward way. 

Had not these men been Kentuckians, with 
some regard for God's ministers, and with 
great admiration for high courage, undoubt- 
edly Mr. Fee would have been scourged, or 
even drowned, as they had threatened. 

Then came a crisis to Berea. The reign of 
terror was almost unendurable. The male 
members of the church and other friends 
held three formal councils, to which Mr. Fee 
was invited. These men entreated Mr. Fee 
to leave, saying they could not protect him, 
and the mob would kill him. His reply was: 

*'I came here to do my duty and if the 
mob come they will find me at my post." 

He kept up his appointment at the district 
school house, used for church services, but 



46 BEREA COLLEGE 



the coni?roft'atioiis were composed of women, 
save one or two men, though others would 
stand in the forest with guns in their hands, 
ready for any emergency. 



AN INWARD CALL 47 



CHAPTER VII. 

MR. ROGERS OBEYS AN INWARD CALL— THE 
RESULTS. 

The period ol: gloom mentioned at the 
close of the last chapter lasted but a few 
weeks, and was followed by one of great 
prosperity and abounding hope, as well as 
freedom from fear. To a large extent this 
was the result of the establishing at Berea 
of a permanent school, and its development 
into a college. 

Men helped of God in preaching and 
teaching in Eastern Kentucky had been 
raised up, who had done their work with 
courage and success, but the time had come 
when other laborers were needed, who 
should devote themselves especially to a per- 
manent educational work. When God pro- 
poses to do anything, He prepares His in- 
struments, as in the case of tliose previously 
mentioned. So now Avhen a higher educa- 
tional work was to be done, He brought for- 
ward those whom He had been preparing 
for this special purpose. The first to be men- 
tioned is John A. E. Rogers. To show how 
he had been providentially prepared for this 



48 BEREA COLLEGE 



mission, a brief sketch of his life is pre- 
sented, as in the case of others. 

Mr. Rogers was a native of Cornwall, 
Connecticnt, where the famous school of 
missions was established in his childhood. 
lie was a descendant of John Rogers, the 
martyr, through a long line of Puritan an- 
cestors, substantial men, alwaj^s ready for 
every good work. He prepared for college 
at Williams Academy, Stockbridge, Massa- 
chusetts, expecting to pursue his studies at 
an Eastern college, but just before entering 
upon his college course, his parents moved 
to Ohio, to the vicinity of Oberlin, where 
he received a large part of his collegiate 
and theological education. During those 
years he taught in the Oberlin Preparatory 
Department, and In the college itself, and 
also in New York city. 

He was deeply imbued with the Oberlin 
spirit, and while there was impressed with 
the greatness of blessing it would be to 
establish elsewhere a similar college. While 
in Oberlin and New York he providentially 
became interested in the mountain region of 
Kentucky as a field for missionary and edu- 
cational work. The ignorance and destitu- 
tion of the people greatly moved him, and 
the difficulties of the field acted upon him 



AN INWARB CALL 49 



as a stimulus rather than a discouragement. 

Business of a benevolent nature took him 
to Roseville, Illinois, immediately after his 
graduation from theology, where he re- 
ceived a call to the Congregational Church 
at that place, which seemed so providential 
and imperative that he could not decline it, 
and in due time he was installed its pastor. 

He was very happy in his church, which 
was prosperous, but the mission work in 
Kentucky would continually press into his 
thoughts. Though he greatly desired to de- 
vote himself to that work which appealed to 
all within him, he could not feel clear to 
give up his pastorate, which, as time rolled 
on, became more interesting and prosperous. 
At last his feelings in behalf of Eastern 
Kentucky came to a crisis in this wise: 

At a meeting of the Congregational Asso- 
ciation, at Galesburg, Illinois, he met his 

old friend, Mr. O^ , with whom he had 

often discussed the work in Kentucky, and 

to which Mr. O had thought to devote 

himself. At this meeting Mr. O told 

i\rr. Rogers that he had been to Kentucky 
and that things looked too dark and discour- 
aging for him to remain. Mr. Rogers was 
profoundly moved. While in New York as a 
teacher he had helped, as he could, Mr. 




REV. JOHN A. R. ROGERS. 



AN IN WARD CALL 51 



Whipple, Secretary of the American Mission- 
ary Association, and that society was as 
dear to him as the apple of his eye. Rev. 
Mr. Davis liad married his only sister, and 
the heroic struggles of the missionaries in 
Kentucky moved his deepest heart, and he 
could not endure for a moment that no one 
should go to their help. Indignant at his 
friend's lack of courage, and full of thoughts 
of the great need in Kentucky, he went 
home from the ecclesiastical meeting and told 
liis wife tliat Mr. O liad gone to Ken- 
tucky and turned back, and that if she was 
willing thej^ would go themselves. Mr. Rog- 
ers then laid his desire before the church, 
calling their attention to their deep interest 
in the American Missionary Association and 
the urgency of Kentucky's needs, and asked 
them if for Christ's sake and His poor, they 
would release their pastor for this work. To 
this request after a time, they reluctantly 
gave their consent. 

In deciding to go to Kentucky Mr. Rog- 
ers had not consulted with flesh and blood 
or with any person in or out of Kentucky. 
He had not sought for any pledge from any 
source for his support, though he knew of 
the Association's eagerness to have some 
one do the work of Gospel preaching and 



52 BEREA COLLEGE 



Christian education, to which he felt so ir- 
resistibly called. The thought of helping 
build a college like Oberlin had never left 
him. He was confident that He who had 
called him to this field would not forsake 
him, and would sustain him in any trials in 
his proposed work. 

Leaving Roseville, he went first to Lewis 
county, to consult with Rev. J. S. Davis, and 
to look over the field in that vicinity. After 
he and Mr. Davis had examined that region, 
Mr. Rogers went to Madison county to con- 
sult with Mr. Fee, whom he had never met, 
and to see what opportunities there were for 
his plans there. Mr. P'ee discouraged any 
attempts in Madison county, but thought a 
favorable opening might be found in Estill 
county. ^Ir. Rogers returned to LeAvis coun- 
ty to assist Mr. I) a vis in church work, and 
with him see where there might be some 
providential opening in the northern part of 
the State. A few weeks after the awful 
mob at the Kentuck3' River, already de- 
scribed, and while things were darkest, Mr. 
Fee wrote to Mr. Rogers urging him very 
strongly to come with his wife to Berea and 
start the proposed school there. 

Accordinglv, in April, 1858. they with their 
Infant son, a babe in arms, made their way 



AN INWARD CALL 53 



to Berea, and opened a school under cir- 
cumstances far from encouraging. 

Berea in recent days has often been de- 
scribed, and while many of its features are 
the same as then, the differences are strik- 
ing. 

The long semi-circular ridge with its table 
land on its summit, is still the same. Silver 
Creek Valley, with the mountains beyond on 
the south and west, and on the opposite side 
the Glades and the rolling blue grass, have 
not changed, but the ridge on which the 
prosperous town and college now stand 
was then an unbroken wilderness, with the 
exception of a few cleared acres about Mr. 
Fee's home and some log cabins near-by. 

The desolateness of that long ridge on 
which now is the beautiful college campus 
and where are the substantial college build- 
ings and the pretty homes of the village, can 
hardly be conceived by one who did not know 
the place then. It was a part of a large tract 
called "the Bresh," not inaptly named, for it 
was literally one thicket of brush. For a 
mile long the length of this partly semi-cir- 
cular ridge there was a wagon road, or path, 
just wide enough so that the wagon wheels 
would not strike against the trees on either 
side, and along its meandering length the 



54 BEREA COLLEGE 



path was not always easy to find, and that 
was the Berea highway. This "Bresh" was 
so thick that if a person stood six feet from 
tlie road lie would be invisible to a passer- 
by on the afore-mentioned highway, and 
except for a few paths it was impossible for 
a man to make his way through the woods 
without clearing his way with an ax. 

On the northeastern end of the ridge was 
a log cabin, Avhile half way toward the other 
end Mr. Fee's house stood, a little oasis in 
the wilderness, and farther on, a quarter of 
a mile or less, were two cabins, from which 
not a stone's throw, but invisible because of 
the thicket, was the district school house. 
This formed the village of Berea in 1858. 

The school building was low and squatted 
on the ground, unpainted and unplastered, a 
single room, covered with rived boards, a dis- 
mal object hardly comfortable for a stable 
even in Kentuck.v cliuiate. There was not 
one redeeming feature about the building- 
it was simply a covering, and the furnish- 
ings within were as rude as the walls. Sure- 
ly almost everything was lacking that would 
be needed for even the rndiments of educa- 
tion. In the surrounding country there was 
little to give encouragement of establishing 
a school that was to grow into a college. It 



AN INWARD CALL SS 



needed a prophet's vision in all those rude 
and seemingly hopeless surroundings to have 
courage to begin a great work. To build 
buildings without monej' , supply needed help 
in the school room, to create a desire for 
knowledge, to supply the poor with needed 
books and other helps, to face opposition 
from without, to do all this in poverty, but 
rich trust in God; to bear the stigma of 
being fanatics and visionaries, and yet to 
work on with might and main, this was 
the part of the early workers of Berea. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rogers found board with a 
family nearly a mile distant from the school 
house, where they received great kindness, 
but w^here they lacked almost every comfort 
to which they had been accustomed. Their 
little baby, now^ a famous inventor and a 
trustee of the college, was carried back and 
forth, morning and evening, in his father's 
arms. The babe was left with a family in 
one of the log cabins near the school and 
lovingly cared for during his mother's ab- 
sence through a long day of teaching, by 
Mrs. William Wright. Thus together they 
began the school with fifteen pupils, none of 
them advanced beyond the very rudiments. 
While they worked together, perhaps in the 
early weeks of the term, it was the part 



56 BEREA COLLEGE 



of Mrs. Rogers to be more hours in the 
school room while her husband gave himself 
to the fuller work of development of the 
school from the outside, which grew so fast, 
however, that it was not long till both were 
needed in the work of instruction. 

This was a strange and new experience 
for the 3^oung girl-wife, reared in the com- 
forts of a Philadelphia home, but her natu- 
ral cheerfulness did not forsake her and her 
ready w^it and executive ability were im- 
portant factors in the success of the school 
for which they both toiled Avith undivided 
purpose. 

At once the best known methods of teach- 
ing were adopted and the best educational 
appliances were secured. Pleasing music 
was introduced, wliicli seemed to have 
a magic effect. And those songs! They 
were among the great features for keeping 
harmony. The sweet refrains, the merry 
jingles and the deeper notes of the gospel 
hymns all made melody in the hearts. Pupils 
learned to keep time and lead with inde- 
pendent voices in the old round of "Scot- 
land's Burning." While the voice of pray- 
er and song in the opening of the morning 
session was a novelty, no doubt on many it 
left its impress and taught the lesson of 



AN IN W ART) CALL 57 



committing all interests to God. The high- 
spirited young Soutlierners, not trained to 
serve under rules, might have rebelled but 
for the many outward helps. It was beauti- 
ful to know the songs taught not only en- 
tered into the many homes, carrying with 
them their own cheer, but into the slave 
cabins as well, and all caught their spirit, 
and the weary lieart of the slave woman 
whose toil was never done found courage to 
take up her burdens anew as she crooned to 
herself, "Oh, do not be discouraged, for 
Jesus is your friend." 

Perhaps some of the hymns would not 
bear criticism, but the simple truths they 
taught reached the simple hearts, and while 
many of them are forgotten or unsung to- 
day, they fulfilled a large mission in this 
early work. It was a joyful sound as the 
boys and girls, dinner pail in hand, went 
singing along the ridge, on their homeward 
way from school, some new song, to be an- 
SAvered back by their mates from the 
Glades with "I'm a pilgrim and I'm a stran- 
ger," and if the voices did not blend in har- 
mony the gladness of heart was there, and 
that they brought to school with them day 
by day. 

Many of the methods used were copied 



58 BEREA COLLEGE 



from older schools, others were original or 
adapted to the needs of the scholars. The 
tive-minute respites coming often tlu'ough 
the long school day were a relief to both 
teacher and pupil. For joung people not 
trained to habits of study something besides 
commands were needed. Keeping the rest- 
less spirits busy did away with much disci- 
pline, and rules were few. Some grammati- 
cal errors heard in conversation were sent 
anonymously to the teacher's desk and a lit- 
tle rivalry in correcting said errors gave not 
only a practical lesson in grammar, but 
sent its lesson home without discomfort. 
Chasing an imaginary squirrel as he hop- 
ped up and down an imaginary tree gave a 
merry lesson in arithmetic, and the failures 
to catch the nimble fellow^ enued often in a 
hearty laugh. 

Spelling classes brought out a frienuiy ri- 
valry between participants and the multi- 
plication table sung to "Yankee Doodle," as 
well as chanting outline geography, all served 
to break up the monotony and send the stu- 
dents back to their severer tasks refreshed. 

These little oases in the daily work charm- 
ed the visitors, who. while they might not 
readily follow their young friends, beamed 



AN INWARD CALL 59 



down upon them with faces of gratified 
pride and delight. 

On Friday afternoons the time was given 
to literary exercises. There was no shrink- 
ing from the new and fiery ordeal, for the 
law of obedience was in every heart, and 
from the little stammerer trying to struggle 
through his short verses on up to the val- 
iant disputants, all did their best, giving 
the interested school audience a rare treat. 
In that old board-sided school house was 
laid the foundation of the future college so- 
cieties, and the young people of to-day may 
count themselves happy if they equal their 
friends of long ago. 

Though Berea was a mission school, start- 
ed on sterile ground, it must not be thought 
the pupils presented anything but a pleasant 
appearance. The Flora MacFlimseys, of 
Madison Square, were not present, and the 
young girls were happily ignorant of much 
that goes to fill up a modern wardrobe. But 
they came to school neatly and prettily 
dressed, and the memories of little maidens 
white-aproned sitting close by their older 
mates just as appropriately gowned is very 
pleasant. The young men wore their jeans, 
if not in the latest cut, with a dignity and 




MRS. JOHN A. R. ROGERS. 

From a photograph taken in 1876. 



AN INWARD CALL 6i 



easy grace that adorned the cloth. Some of 
those j^ouiig- men were princely fellows. 
Some are holding offices of trust, while some 
gave their lives for their country and lie 
in honored graves. 

Practical lectures, illustrated by impro- 
vised apparatus, on astronomy, geography 
and other of the sciences were given in such 
a way as deeply to impress and instruct the 
older pupils and others who came to hear. 

A spirit of hope perA^aded not onl}- tlie pu- 
pils, but the atmospliere all around, and visi- 
tors came for miles to see and hear. New 
pupils were added weekly, so that before the 
first term closed the narrow quarters were 
overflowing. Teachers and students were 
eager for improvements of all sorts. Out- 
side of school hours, the ax, grubbing hoe 
and spade were put into good use, till the 
thick:et about the school building gradually 
disappeared. 

Those who had not yet begun to dig among 
Greek roots dug away at those of the oak 
stumps. On the play ground there was as 
great enthusiasm as inside the school walls 
At the appropriate hours, teachers and pu- 
pils, old and young, male and ^^male. en 
tered into active sports with hearty glee ai:d 



62 BEREA COLLEGE 



made the welkin ring. It was before the 
days of gymnasia, but under the blue sky 
the improvised sports were most enjoyable. 
The days of college yells had not yet come, 
but the shouts of the victors in the friendly 
contests were as musical, if not so ear- 
piercing. 

These days were full of gladness, not only 
for those in attendance upon the scliool, but 
for the community for miles around. After 
a few weeks Mr. and Mrs. Rogers could 
hardly spend a night at their boarding place, 
so constant and urgent were the invitations 
to visit the homes of their pupils, and these 
requests as far as possible were accepted in 
the spirit in whicli tliey were given. They 
came from all classes, from slaveholders, 
some of whose children were in the school, 
and also from those living in rude cabins, 
which would not have been attractive but 
for the her.rty welcome which was extended 
to those who had cast in their lot with the 
people, one and all, rich and poor. One night 
they would spend in a hospitable home full 
of good cheer, waited on by obsequious 
slaves and possibly the next in a log cabin 
with a sinsie room, where the cooking of 
the fried chicken was directly before their 



AN IN WART) CALL d^ 



eyes, but with no less delight than where 
the accommodations were more ample.* 

Mr. Rogers had the natural quality for his 
work and a great love for people as such. 
The varieties in Dickens were less interest- 
ing to him than those in real life, with the 
varj^ing excellence and defects belonging to 
every type. His love for all classes, all 
ages, made his life among these people one 
of continual joy and added greatly to his 
success. 

The spirit of the Lord for hope and good 
fellowship and the attaining of knowledge 
rested upon the school and emanated from 
it, and not only from the teachers, but from 
all those who were interested in carrying on 
the work of education, freedom and truth. 

It was decided at the end of the term to 
have an educational exhibit and entertain- 
ment. Not only the scholars and their par- 
ents, but the whole community gave them- 
selves to preparation for the occasion. A 
leafy bower, with towering oaks for pillars, 
was prepared to seat a larger number than 
had ever come into the vicinity, though the 

♦These inritations referred to were from the Bests, the 

Burnams. the Moores, the Ruckers, the Denhams. the 

Todds, the Prestons, the Williams, th^ Wrights, the 
Elders, the Thompsons and very many others. 



64 BEREA COLLEGE 



Glades, near-by, had been a place for the 
gathering of crowds from time immemorial. 
Stirring- ninsic was prepared and the com- 
munity arranged for a free uinner spread 
on long tables in an adjoining grove. 

If the school had been successful and en- 
thusiastic, the closing exercises were cap- 
tivating. At one time the people made the 
grove ring with their cheers, at another they 
were bathed in tears. A prominent slave- 
holder from a neighboring county, a member 
of the Legislature, who was present and 
made a speech, remarked, privately, as he 
left the stage: 

*'If this school goes on this way, the nig- 
gers wMll be free, but I am going to hold on 
to mine as long as I can." 



The following is a partial list of scholars in Berea 
Hchool for spring and fall terms of 1858: 

Mallie Ballard, Ann Eliza Best, Mary Best, Nancy 
Blackburn, Martha Blackburn, James Boatwright, Sam 
Boatwright, William Burdett, William Carr, John Carr, 
Sis Carr, Nicholas Chastine, Martha Denham, Lizzie 
Denham, Minerva Denham, Eliza Durham, Joseph 
Durham, Lizzie Elder, Mary Jane Elder,, An- 
drew J. Elder, William Elder, Laura Fee, Bur- 
ritt Fee, Howard Fee, Irving Goodrich, Caleb Hughes, 
William Hulitt, William Jones, Humphry Jones, Susan 
Jones, Lizzie Kearby, Fanny Kearby, John Klnnard, 
Betty Kinnard. Boag Kinnard, Howard Maupiu, Mack 
Maupin, Elzera Maupin, Josephine Mitchell, Alice Mer- 



AN INWARD CALL 65 



rill, Alexander Moore, Gloucester Moore, Zerelda Moore, 
Louisa Moore, Mary Moore, James Moore, Harrison 
Murphy, Devid Newton, Mary Parker, David Preston, 
Eliz. Rawlings, Melissa Rawlings, Cassius Rawlings, 
Green Renfro, Philip Roberts, Morton Rucker, Tandy 
Rueker, William Rucker, George Rucker, Nancy Rucker, 
Agnes Rucker, Abraham Smith, George Smith, William 
Taylor, Francis Tompson, Nestor Todd, Joel Todd, 
Granville West, Margaret West, James West, H. Wil- 
liams, Sallie Williams, George Woolwins, Betty Wool- 
wins, Zerelda Woolwins, Jack Wright, George Wright, 
Betty Wright. 



66 BEREA COLLEGE 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE COLLEGE CONSTITUTION. 

The term of school described had been 
one of such great enthusiasm and success, 
and the closing exercises had aroused so 
widespread an interest, that it seemed de- 
sirable without delay to organize the pro- 
posed college, though it might be some years 
before it could be ready to confer degrees. 
The thought of a literary institution of a 
high order had been before the minds of 
more than one of the missionaries, and Mr. 
Rogers had gone to Kentucky with the pur- 
pose to give himself, in connection with min- 
isterial work, to establishing such a perma- 
nent school. Accordingly, Mr. Fee and Mr. 
Rogers invited Mr. Davis and Mr. Candee, 
already made known to the readers of this 
sketch, to come to Berea and consider with 
some men in Madison county the expediency 
of framing a college constitution and obtain- 
ing a charter. All invited were citizens of 
Kentucky, native or adopted, and expected 
to live and die in the State. 

The meeting was held at Mr. Fee's study 



CONSTITUTION 67 



on the seventh of September, 1858, and Mr. 
Fee was appointed chairman, and Mr. Rogers 
chairman of a committee to present a con- 
stitution, which in advance had received 
much consideration. 

At tliis meeting, after much prayer, three 
topics were considered: Is there a demand 
for a college in this region? 

Are we the men called by God to carry it 
forward? 

Is it to be wholly for God, and not for our 
own glory? 

Under the last query they inquired if they 
could put away all selfish motives in carry- 
ing on this work. They tried honestly to 
make this inquiry, yet knew but little of the 
depths of selfishness latent in the human 
heart, and what infinite grace and patience 
God must exercise toward them as they went 
forward. 

The answer to the first query was not dif- 
ficult, for to the east and south and west 
was a large region, an area larger than that 
of several of the States of the Union, in 
which there was hardly a single school that 
could give more than an elementary common 
school education. The schools and colleges 
of the rest of the State of Kentucky were 
practically closed to the mountain people. 



68 BEREA COLLEGE 



Here was a real demand for a school to 
train teachers and give the higher education 
to tlie most promising sons and daugliters of 
tliese men of a "belated civilization." 

To the second query: Are we tlie men call- 
ed of God to do this work? this answer was 
given: This work we liave already providen- 
tially begun. The Berea Scliool is already a 
college in embryo and witli an abundance 
of vigor. If we do not take tliis matter in 
hand who have it deeply in our hearts, who 
will attempt it? 

The question of whether the time had 
come for establisliing a school of high order 
could hardly be discussed, for liere it was 
already, and they were not the men to ask 
whether it should stop at its present stage 
or go forward. 

Looking back now it is easy to see tliat 
the school was planted just at the right 
time. Had it been a few weeks earlier, 
when the mobs Avere most numerous and 
violent, and the people of the vicinity most 
hopeless, the success the school had already 
attained would have been impossible. Later, 
it could hardly have sent its roots so deeply 
into the soil and in its very infancy attained 
so great prominence. It was before the war 
and had the support of loyal Kentuckians. 



CONSTITUTION 69 



A few years later the school could not have 
existed at all. Though it was temporarily 
overthrown, yet this apparent disaster gave 
it a national importance and called to it 
the attention of the whole country. 

The location of the proposed college at 
Berea had also been so far decided as not 
to need much consideration. The miniature 
college was here already. Had a body of 
wise men sent experts to go through this 
whole region and see where would be the 
most desirable place for such a college as 
was proposed, they could not have found a 
more favorable spot. 

On a semi-circular ridge which inclosed 
as it were a bay of the blue grass, it had 
the mountain people on three sides, with one 
side open to the wealth and culture of the 
most prosperous part of the State, with 
which it could keep itself in contact. This 
was of real value in many ways. Amicable 
relations were cultivated with all classes of 
people, and except when Kentuckians were 
deceived in regard to the Bereans or borne 
away by some tide of fear, like that which 
followed the John Brown raid, those rela- 
tions were of a slowly increasing mutual 
esteem. 

It was an important factor in the success 



^^S^h9w9 ''* 'vl 


ii 


■J 


ii||i^ 


" ••■'•^v '-'^- r ' • ■-' 


^mm 


' "43 j^ sis 1^ 


1 





THE ROGERS HOUSE. 

Earliest of the existing college buildings, erected in i866 and 
since remodeled. 



CONSTITUTION 71 



of Berea College that it was in easy reach 
of Richmond, one of the most thriving towns 
of Kentucky. The business relations of 
Richmond and Berea were close and of great 
profit to the latter. The writer remembers 
with great pleasure his intercourse with 
Judge Burnham, Hon. W. B. Smith, Hon. 
Green Claj^ Smith, Cashier S. S. Parkes, the 
Shackelfords and many others, all true gen- 
tlemen. 

Then when the time came that there were 
colored students to seek its advantages it 
was of easy access to them. 

Afterwards when one of the great north 
and south lines of railroad passed through 
Berea, it was well situated for "effacing sec- 
tional lines" by bringing students from dif- 
ferent sections, and should it, as its friends 
hope, have a far greater national import- 
ance even than now, because founded on 
the broad lines of humanity and seeking to 
help all classes, it will still be in the place 
favorable for its enlarged work. 

The first question after those named, to 
be discussed, was as to the Christian char- 
acter of the school, and all agreed heartily 
that it should be as Christian as possible, 
with an atmosphere of hopeful, joyful love. 
The point was raised whether it should be 



72 BEREA COLLEGE 



open to all of good moral character and re- 
spectable demeanor or confined to the white 
race alone. It was decided that as it was 
to be a school especially to meet the needs 
of the poor, its spirit of broad Christian love 
must embrace all, and no one be refused on 
account of the color of his skin, if he was 
desirable otherwise. This course was taken, 
although it was known that it would be con- 
trary to the prejudices of many, because it 
was right, and in accordance with the exam- 
ple of our Lord in associating with those 
hated and despised, and because in the case 
of this school, established especially to help 
the needy, to exclude any modest, faithful 
person would be wrong and in the end ruin- 
ous. 

All were agreed that the school should not 
be sectarian or under the control of any 
denomination. 

These discussions lasted for several days 
and finally a constitution and by-laws were 
adopted. The constitution was in general 
similar to that of many colleges, and that of 
Oberlin was especially studied. Mr. Rogers 
had previously sought counsel and help from 
Prof. Fairchild, of Oberlin, afterward for 
many years the president of the same, and 
recognized as one of the wisest college presi- 



CONSTITUTION 73 



dents of the country. His wisdom and pro- 
found acquaintance witli the true principles 
of college government had much to do with 
the prosperity of the college, not by actually 
giving advice, but through the intimate re- 
lations of President Fairchild with the one 
at the head of the school during its early 
and formative years. 

The first words of the constitution were 
**In order to promote the cause of Christ." 
Two of the by-laws of the college are given 
to show the animus of the founders: 

''This college shall be under an influence 
strictly Christian, and as such opposed to 
sectarianism, slaveholding, caste and every 
other wrong institution or practice." 

"The object of this college shall be to fur- 
nish the facilities for a thorough education 
to all persons of good moral character, at 
the least possible expense to the same, and 
all the inducements and facilities for man- 
ual labor Avhich can reasonably be supplied 
by the Board of Trustees shall be offered 
to its students." 

This constitution was signed by the fol- 
lowing persons: John G. Fee, J. A. R. Rog- 
ers, J. S. Davis, George Candee, William 
Stapp, John G. Hanson, John Smith, T. J. 
Renfro, John Burnam. Of these all but 



74 BEREA COLLEGE 



Messrs. Stapp, Reiifro, Burnam and Smith 
have been brought before the reader. Mr. 
Renfro was a man of great worth and so- 
briety of character, not hasty to act, but 
always acting wisely. Mr. Stapp was a jus- 
tice of the peace, with a good reputation in 
his county. Mr. Burnam was a substantial 
planter of much dignity and universally es- 
teemed. Mr. Smith was a very substantial 
farmer, quite in years, from near Colum- 
bus, Ohio, of great benevolence, who had 
moved to Berea that he might be of help 
by his industry and faithfulness in the work 
in Madison count3% in which he had come to 
be deeply interested. 

The next step Avas to secure a college char- 
ter, which was comparatively easy, as un- 
der a general law of the State when a proper 
constitution and bj^-laws were recorded in 
the County Clerk's office, and signed by ten 
citizens of the State as trustees, a charter 
was thereby secured. There was delay in 
securing additional trustees and in having 
them sign the constitution and by-laws at the 
County Clerk's office, and when, more than 
a year later, the school was broken up and 
most of the trustees were driven from the 
State the requisite number of signatures 
had not been given to the constitution. This 



CONSTITUTION 75 

number was completed in the spring of 1866. 
Most of the trustees had been driven from 
the State, and several did not return. The 
Board as newly constituted consisted of the 
following gentlemen, men of good judgment, 
with an earnest desire to do wisely and well 
their work. All of them, except Rev. Jacob 
Emerick, were Kentuckians. He was a min- 
ister from Ohio, who had visited Kentucky 
and preached in Berea, and became deeply 
interested in its plans and work: John G. 
Fee, John A. R. Rogers, John G. Hanson, 
Elisha Harrison, Morgan Burdette, A. J. 
Henderson, W. W. Wheeler, William N. Em 
bree, Arthur J. Hanson, John Preston. Mr. 
Fee was elected president of the Board of 
Trustees, and continually re-elected to that 
office till the later years of his life. 



76 BEREA COLLEGE 



CHAPTER IX. 

MR. HANSON AND HIS SAW MILL. 

After the close of the school term, as al- 
ready described, plans were made at once for 
accommodating more pupils in the fall. The 
people of the neighborhood by voluntary of- 
ferings raised money enough to build an ad- 
dition to the district school house, and two 
additional teachers, Mr. and Mrs. John G. 
Hanson, were secured. 

Mr. Hanson was a member of the Hanson 
family already mentioned. He was above 
medium height, of a sandy complexion, quiet 
but persistent, and never discouraged by the 
most trying circumstances. He and his wife 
gave themselves with heartiness to their 
work. 

Mr. Hanson taught but one term, and then 
turned his attention to the material needs 
of the place, building and managing a saw 
mill and a planing mill, which were a neces- 
sity for the future growth of the school and 
town. His hopefulness, his practical skill, 
his knowledge of laying out roads, and his 
devotion to the interests of Berea were of 



HIS SAW MILL 77 



tne greatest advantage to it for many years 
—indeed, as long as lie lived. 

Ttie purpose of the Bereans from the first 
was to promote not only the intellectual and 
spiritual interests of all they could reach, 
but their material interests as well. "In- 
dustrial education" had not yet come into 
vogue, but the college indirectly, and all its 
teachers directly, sought in all practical 
ways to teach industry, handicrafts and econ- 
omy, that all might have wherewith to help 
others and increased material blessings for 
themselves. Mr. Hanson's mills were a great 
help in these respects and many others. 
People coming to Berea for lumber must 
needs haA^e good roads, and good roads pro- 
moted intercourse, and intercourse friendly 
appreciation. At that time there was not a 
good road or anything which was hardly 
passable to Berea, a great contrast to the 
present condition, when from Berea as a cen- 
tre radiate in every direction excellent mac- 
adamized roads. 

Early in the fall the addition was made to 
the old school house, rude enough, for par- 
titions for recitation rooms were made of 
cotton cloth, but the enthusiasm was at 
white heat and there was little thought of 
the externals. 



78 BEREA COLLEGE 



The school opened with about a hundred 
pupils. The scholars came largely from the 
region contiguous to Berea, but some from 
adjoining counties. Many of the young peo- 
ple were of a superior character and after- 
ward filled posts of responsibility and honor.* 
The same methods were pursued as in the 
previous term and with like results. 

During the whiter term wliich followed 
tlie question was debated in the Literary So- 
ciety of the students, whether colored per- 
sons ought to be admitted to a white school. 
At the time, so far as Berea was concerned, 
It was a theoretical rather than a practical 
question, as no colored person had applied 
for instruction. 

Not a few of the students were of slave- 
holding families, and this discussion damp- 
ened the ardor of some, who, while they had 
a strong affection for their teachers, disliked 
their sentiments in regard to slavery and 
anti-caste. Because of the excitement aris- 
ing from this discussion much prejudice was 
aroused against the school, so that when the 
spring term opened the number of pupils 
was diminished. 

Still the school went on hopefully, and 

♦The records of this and the preceding term were lost 
during the war which followed, hut the names of many 
of those in attendance are appended. 



HIS SAW MILL 79 



constant efforts were made to increase its 
efficiency. Popular lectures on chemistry, 
with experiments, were given, and lectures 
on other scientific subjects w^ere so simplified 
as to interest and instruct the members of 
the school and others who wished to attend 
them. Though some hated the school and 
decried it because of the peculiar views of its 
teachers and supporters, others were glad to 
come to Berea to be in an atmosphere of 
so much good cheer, where they could ob- 
tain substantial knowledge and where there 
was a peaceful spirit. No one accused any 
of the teachers of intemperate zeal or want 
of Christian courtesy, or of attempting to 
force their convictions upon others. 

The work at Berea was brought before the 
people of the North by correspondence and 
by the magazine of the American Missionary 
Association, in which there were continually 
communications from the missionaries of 
Eastern Kentucky and the teachers connect- 
ed with the school. In Kentucky itself the 
work was made known by more direct com- 
munication, and as a result a number of Ken- 
tucky families from neighboring counties 
and other parts of the State, moved to Berea 
to make it their home and get the benefits 
of the school. Some families came also from 
the North. 




JOHN HANSON. 

One of the earliest Trustees, 



BROWN'S RAID 8i 

CHAPTER X. 

JOHN BROWN'S RAID AFFECTS KENTUCKY. 

In October, 1859, John Brown made his 
famous raid into Virginia and took tlie arse- 
nal at Harper's Ferry. For years previous 
the wliole country, North and South, had 
been aroused to a high pitch of excitement 
on the subject of slavery, by reason of 
political discussions and especially by the 
Kansas troubles. In the fights in Kansas, 
Jolm Brown was one of the most prominent 
leaders. His Virginia raid set the whole 
country afiame. As soon as the news of 
John Brown's attempt to arm slaves was 
known, the South aroused itself to crush 
out everything within its borders that was 
in the least opposed to slaver3\ 

Berea had been known from the first as a 
school in favor of liberty, and though it 
had equally stood for law and order, doing 
nothing rashly or contrary to the laws of 
the State. 3^et in the excitement of the times 
these characteristics were overlooked or dis- 
regarded. 

The stir in Madison and adjoining coun- 



82 BE RE A COLLEGE 



ties was greatly increased by false rumors, 
8ome of wliicli were published in the news- 
papers as facts. It Avas said tliat boxes of 
Siiarpe's rifles liad been intercepted on the 
way to Berea. Some household goods of 
Mr. Boughton, who Avas moving to Berea 
from the Nortli, aa ere broken open and their 
contents examined. Tlie parties engaged in 
tliis liad tlieir suspicions confirmed by find- 
ing in one of the boxes, as tliey thouglit, an 
infernal machine, AA^liich proA-ed, hoAA^CA^er, on 
careful examination, to be notliing more 
deadly than a set of candle molds. WiA'es 
stirred up tlieir husbands because they could 
not sleep at night for fear of an insurrec- 
tion of the slaA^es. 

The situation of Berea, in the rear of the 
Blue Grass region, AA\as pointed out as most 
admirably selected for strategic purposes and 
as a base for a raid, and this AA^as regarded 
by those who AA^ere ready to believe the Avild- 
est tales as evidence of the warlike pur- 
poses of the Bereans. This was amusing 
to them, AA^ho never carried arms and few 
of Avhom owned a Aveapon more dangerous 
than a pocket knife. 

At this time Mr. Fee was at the East, 
raising money for the school, and said in a 
sermon at the church of Henry Ward Beech- 



BROWN'S RAID 83 



er that the country needed men with the 
courage and spirit of sacrifice of John 
Brown, not with his methods. It was report- 
ed in the papers of Kentucl^y that he was in 
the East and at Beecher's church, raising 
John Browns for Kentucky. All these things 
stirred the people to a perfect whirlwind of 
excitement. Public meetings of the citizens 
of Madison county were called that they 
might decide what should be done to rid the 
State of the Bereans. Finally, after many 
such gatherings, at a meeting at the Court 
House, sixty-two leading citizens of the coun- 
ty were appointed a committee to remove 
the most prominent Bereans from the State; 
peaceably if possible, forcibly if necessary, 
and John G. Fee and John A. R. Rogers 
were mentioned by name. 

At this meeting a paper addressed to the 
people of Kentucky was adopted, giving the 
reasons for their course; this paper when 
published filled several columns of the coun- 
ty newspaper. The substance of these rea- 
sons was that it had been settled that Ken- 
tucky was to be a slave State forever, and 
that the Berea school and the town were in 
opposition to a fundamental principle of the 
State, and they could not be tolerated any 
longer without the most serious results to 



84 BEREA COLLEGE 



the Commonwealth. It was said to be a 
case where necessity sets aside law. The 
document also said liberty and slavery could 
not dwell together, and that the school favor- 
ed liberty. 

It was decided that the work of removal 
should be done without violence, if possible, 
and that ten days' notice to leave the State 
should be given to the obnoxious persons, 
and if they were in the State at the end of 
that time, they should suffer the conse- 
quences of their refusal. 

Though not a few prominent men in the 
county opposed this movement, their opposi- 
tion did not avail. 

During all these weeks of excitement the 
Bereans went about their usual work quiet- 
ly, though not without forebodings and fear. 
When rumors came that one or another was 
to be strung to a limb, it required all their 
faith and courage to go unmoved about their 
customary duties, but calling on the Lord for 
strength and wisdom, they preserved a good 
degree of composure. Their condition of 
mind showed itself mainly in an unusual 
soberness and quietness of demeanor, though 
they were not entirely destitute of cheerful- 
ness. They did not discuss with each other 
to any extent their fears, but endeavored to 



BROIVN'S RAID 85 



strengthen each other by hope and the ex- 
pectation that the storm would eventually 
pass by. From its beginning the little ham- 
let had been accustomed to visits from 
druiiken and lawless men with threats of 
all sorts. 

While the meetings were going on in Rich- 
mond, the county seat, and elsewhere, the 
prominent Bereans took no special pains to 
find out what attempts were to be made to 
drive them away. 

They were unarmed, having for their mis- 
sion the gospel of peace, and did not feel 
themselves called upon to fight their foes, 
which would have been the rashest folly, 
but on the contrary they had a deep sense 
that their help was in God, and that mean- 
while they would best please Him by quiet- 
ly pursuing their accustomed avocations. 

Whether the committee appointed to re- 
move the Bereans took the utmost pains to 
conceal the time when they should in a body 
visit Berea is not known, but the first in- 
timation of their approach was when they 
were drawn up before the house of Mr. Rog- 
ers, the first place they visited. His house 
was in a grove some distance from the road, 
and without a fence about the grounds. 
A slight snow had fallen and the men came 



86 BEREA COLLEGE 



up SO quietly tlitit their approach was not 
uoticecl by Mr. Rogers and family, who 
were at dinner, until some one announced: 

"Tliey liave come.'' 

Who "they" were was known at once. 
Mr. Rogers went immediately to tlie front 
door, his three-year-old son clinging to his 
coat slvirts, to find sixty mounted men 
drawn up in a regular wedge-shaped ar- 
raj^ the point of the wedge at the front of 
the house. The leader dismounted from his 
white charger and stated the object of their 
visit, giving Mr. Rogers a printed document 
witli the reasons for their course. Mr. Rog- 
ers replied that he was a quiet, law-abiding 
citizen, and had violated no law or done 
anj^tliing to disturb tiie i)eace or welfare of 
the Commonwealth, and was proceeding 
when the leader, seeing some of his men 
restless, said t\\ej could not discuss the mat- 
ter, and added that if Mr. Rogers and his 
friends did not leave in ten days they would 
return and complete their worlv. He then 
ordered his men to wheel and move on. 
They then went to the residence of Mr. Fee, 
who was at the time in the East, leaving a 
similar document Avlth his family, and then 
on, serving the same notice to eight other 
prominent Berea citizens, Mr. Hanson among 



BROfTN'S RAID 87 



the number. In two hours the work was 
done and they rode away.* 

After the committee had gone the ques- 
tion came up in earnest what should be 
don^; whether those ordered away should re- 
main and protect themselves as best they 
could in their houses, or whether they should 
leave within the ten days. 

By common consent all met in the evening 
at the school building, which was the usual 
place for all public gatherings, to pray for 
wisdom. It was a remarkable prayer meet- 
ing. It was not a formal coming together to 
perform a duty, or to ask for general bless- 
ings, but to ask God, who they felt alone 
could make known to them their duty, to 
make plain whether they should go or stay. 

Directed undoubtedly by the spirit of God, 
the XXXYIIth Psalm was read by Mr. John 



*The writer, who was one of those who had "per- 
mission" to leave the State at that time, is too loyal 
to Kentucky and her sons to be willing to let this op- 
portunity pass without testifying to the courtesy of the 
committee. They evidently felt that they had an un. 
desirable task which they thought they ought to do, and 
performed their work in as gentlemanly a manner as 
possible. Many of them in common with multitudes In 
the South now rejoice that slavery has passed away, 
and in the prosperity of Berea and what it is doing 
for education and the material progress of the State. 



88 BEREA COLLEGE 



Hanson. It was a new Psalm to those 
who were there, though many of them had 
read it scores of times before. It was God 
speaking- to them to comfort and strength- 
en tlieir liearts. If it was a Psalm written 
man3' centuries ago by the Spirit, it was 
none the less the voice of the living God, 
speaking now to them, and not only to their 
ears but their hearts. They heard Him say- 
ing: 

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, 
neither be thou envious against the workers 
of iniquit3% for they shall soon be cut down 
like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 
The wicked plotteth against the just and 
gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The 
Lord shall laugh at him, for He seeth that 
his da 3^ is coming. The wicked have drawn 
out their sword, and have bent their bow to 
cast down the poor and needy and to slay 
such as be of upright conversation. Their 
sword shall enter into their own heart and 
their bows shall be broken." 

Those gathered for prayer had no clear 
vision of the Civil War, so soon to break 
out, or the evils that should ere long befall 
many of the men who had come that day to 
drive peaceful persons from their homes, but 
while they claimed no special goodness for 



BROWN'S RAID 89 



themselves, because tliey were seeking to 
help God's poor they felt confident of His 
help, and in the ultimate success of the work 
in which they had been engaged. 

The next day it was decided to appeal to 
the Governor of the State for protection, 
and Mr. Rogers drew up the following peti- 
tion, which was signed by all those warned 
away, and Mr. Reed and Mr. Life, two of 
the number, took it to Frankfort and pre- 
sented it in person to Governor Magoffin. 
To His Excellency, the Governor of the 

State of Kentucky: 

We, the undersigned, loyal citizens and 
residents of the State of Kentucky, and coun- 
ty of Madison, do respectfully call your at- 
tention to the following facts: 

1. We have come from various parts of 
this and adjoining States to this county, with 
the intention of making it our home; have 
supported ourselves and families by honest 
industry and endeavored to promote the in- 
terests of religion and education. 

2. It is a principle with us to "submit to 
every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, 
unto Governors as unto them that are sent 
by Him for the punishment of evil-doers 
and praise of them that do well," and in 
accordance with this principle we have been 




JAMES S. DAVIS. 

One of the Berea pioneers, from a photograph 
taken about 1890. One of the first Trustees. 



BROWN'S RAW 91 



obedient in all respects to the laws of this 
State. 

3. Within a few weeks, evil and false re- 
ports have been put into circulation, imput- 
ing to us motives, w^ords and conduct cal- 
culated to inflame the public mind, which 
imputations are utterly false and groundless. 
These imputations we have publicly de- 
nied and offered every facility for the fullest 
investigation, which we have earnestly but 
vainly sought. 

4. On Friday, the twenty-third inst, a 
company of sixty-two men, claiming to have 
been appointed by a meeting of the citizens 
of our county, without any shadow of legal 
authority, and in violation of the constitu- 
tion and laws of this State and the United 
States, called at our respective residences 
and places of business, and notified us to 
leave the county and State, and be without 
this county and State within ten days, and 
handed us the accompanying document, in 
which you will see that unless the said order 
be promptly complied with, there is express- 
ed a fixed determination to remove us by 
force. 

In view of these facts, which we can sub- 
stantiate by the fullest evidence, we respect- 
fully pray that you, in the exercise of the 



92 BEREA COLLEGE 



power vested in you by the constitutiou, and 
made your duty to use, do protect us in our 
riglits as loyal citizens of the State of Ken- 
tucky. 

J. A. R. ROGERS. 
J. G. HANSON, 
J. D. REED, 
JAS. S. DAVIS, 
JOHN F. BOUGHTON, 
SWINGLEHURST LIFE, 
JOHN SMITH, 
E. T. HAYES, 
CHARLES E. GRIFFIN, 
A. G. W. PARKER, 
W. H. TORRY. 
Berea, Madison county, Ky., December 24, 
1859. 

The Governor received the bearers of the 
petition respectfully, but said it was impos- 
sible for him to do anything for their pro- 
tection. 

When they returned and reported the 
Governor's answer, and what condition of 
the public mind they had seen on their jour- 
ney to and from the Capital, the feeling 
strengthened that it was the part of wisdom 
for those ordered away to quietly depart. 
Several days had already passed and the 



BROWN'S RAID 93 



days for preparation for leaving within the 
time designated were few. The universal 
feeling was that though they left now, the 
time was not far distant when they would 
return. Though none fixed any date for the 
return or foresaw the Civil War, which was 
ere long to begin, the conriction was deep 
in the minds of some, so strong as scarce- 
ly to admit of the least doubt, that this was 
the providence of God, which would work 
ultimately for the good of Berea, and espe- 
cially of the college which had been founded 
in Christ's name. No one felt disposed be- 
cause of the present distress to sell his 
home. When the decision to leave had been 
reached, all breathed more freely, and the 
feeling that in these matters they were fol- 
lowing God's leadings comforted the hearts 
of those going away. 

Mourning and sorrow were rather the por- 
tion of those who were permitted to re- 
main. They were to lose, at least for a 
time, their leaders, and the school on which 
their hopes were set was to be closed, when 
to be reopened they knew not. 

Finally the day on which they were to 
leave arrived. The families departing met 
under the oaks in front of Mr. Rogers' house, 
with a concourse of neighbors and friends 



94 BEREA COLLEGE 



gathered about them. Then with bared 
heads under the vault of heaven they lifted 
up their hearts to God, while the Rev. 
George Candee,* of Jackson county, led 
them in prayer as they committed them- 
selves to the guidance of the Lord God Al- 
mighty. Then the farewells were uttered 
and the exiles mounted their various vehicles 
to begin their march. They formed a motley 
but not dangerous procession, these "peo- 
ple who were a menace to Kentucky." Pa- 
triarch and babes in arms, a bride and 
groom, men and women in the prime of life, 
young people and children of all ages, all 
moved slowly away from the hill. 



♦Rev. George Candee remained in Jackson county till 
after the Civil War actually broke out, but was finally 
obliged to leave the State, though not till he had receiv- 
ed the traditional coat of tar and feathers. At the time 
of the writing of this narrative he is laboring in a 
Northern city. His love for his former field has not in 
the least abated. One of his daughters is the wife of 
the Superintendent of Education in the county where he 
labored so faithfully and from whicb he was driven. 



THE EXILES 95 

CHAPTER XI. 

DEPARTURE AND RETURN OF THE EXILES. 

This band of the exiles spent the night in 
Richmond, the county seat of Madison coun- 
ty, in which Berea is situated, and next day 
went by public conveyance to Cincinnati. 
AYhile in Richmond Mr. Rogers called on Mr. 
Hathaway, its leading merchant, to see about 
his account, and made the request that he 
would give him a few weeks in which to pay 
it. Colonel Hathaway's reply was: 

"Most certainly, and I will give you any 
amount of money you need." 

Colonel Hathaway was a princely man, 
one of Kentucky's noblest sons. He, like a 
great number of Kentuckians^ was opposed 
to disturbing peaceable men, seeking only the 
welfare of the State^ and this little incident 
is mentioned to show the confidence which 
such men felt in Berea. 

The next morning after the exiles had 
arrived in Cincinnati the papers were filled 
with glaring headlines, giving the story of 
the banishment of the Kentuckians accused 
of no misdemeanor whatever, and these ac- 



c)6 BEREA COLLEGE 



counts were telegraphed to every part of the 
hind. 

The next few days public meetings were 
held in churches and public halls in Cincm- 
nati, where the exiles were invited to tell 
their own story. Ministers, jurists and 
other prominent men pronounced this act an 
unparalleled outrage. 

Soon the various families driven from their 
own homes made their way to the homes of 
then- friends. Mr. Fee and family went to 
relatives in Bracken county, Kentucky, from 
Avhich place he was soon ordered away. Rev. 
James Scott Davis was also compelled to 
leave Lewis county, where he had been a 
faithful minister for many years. The whole 
slave power of Kentucky was aroused, part- 
ly through fear because of the John Brown 
raid, and partly because it seemed an oppor- 
tune time to stamp out all anti-slavery feel- 
ing in the State. So man proposed; how 
God soon disposed is known to all. Later, 
when Mr. Fee went back to Kentucky, on 
a peaceful errand, to put up some stones at 
the grave of his son, he was again driven 
out of the State. 

In March, 1860, Mr. John G. Hanson re- 
turned to Berea to look after liis business, 
when he was hunted like a wild beast. Hia 



THE EXILES 97 



saw mill was destroyed and his pursuers 
broke into a house where they thought he 
might be concealed and conducted them- 
selves in such a way that several armed 
themselves to put a stop to the outrages, 
and a number of shots were fired by both 
parties. The excitement was such that can- 
n5n were brought from Frankfort, the cap- 
ital of the State, and for a time a warfare 
similar to that previously in Kansas seemed 
imminent. 

Mr. Hanson escaped to Jackson county, 
and many then pledged their lives and hon- 
or in defense of his rights. But he did not 
wish to bring on warfare, and determined to 
leave the State. Quitting his mountain 
fastness and walking all night, he passed 
his mill in ruins. The next day when not 
far from the Kentucky River he was pur- 
sued by two men, who caught him and 
searched liim for "fighting tools," as they 
said; but he assured them that he had 
none and did not wish to hurt any man. 
The m.en, who were mounted, made him 
walk in front of them and told him that 
they were going to take him to Richmond 
and make him "pull rope." 

Finally, after a long talk one of them pro- 
posed to let him go, and got off his horse 



98 BERK A COLLEGE 



and requested him to ride. At last they 
told him that they had been deceived in 
him and did not wish a hair of his head 
hurt. They said that a reward of a hundred 
dollars was offered for his delivery in Rich- 
mond, but they would not be a party to his 
capture. They advised him to escape, and 
gave him directions for his safety. For 
a week he did not sleep in a house, but at 
last reached his father's house in Bracken 
county. He had carried on his person the 
records of the college, for he was secretary 
of the Board of Trustees, and was almost as 
eager to preserve them as his life. 

Mr. Hanson has now passed to another 
world, but in giving his experience of these 
days, he said: 

"When I think what I wished to do for 
my fellow Kentuckians, and what I receiv- 
ed at their hands^ it makes me weep and 
love them the more, and I shall never cease 
to do what I can for so good a land, filled 
with many generous spirits and wailing 
slaves." 

After this Messrs. Fee and Hanson made 
their homes in one of the suburbs of Cin- 
cinnati, where Mr. Fee preached as oppor- 
tunity offered in that vicinity. 

Mr. Rogers, at the invitation of the 



THE EXILES 99 



American Missionary Association, presented 
the cause of that society to ttie cliurches in 
New York and New England for more tlian 
a year, and tlien accepted a call to the Pres- 
byterian Church in Decatur, in Southern 
Ohio, with the provision tliat at any time 
when the way should be open for him to 
return to his work in Berea he should have 
leave to go after a month's notice. 

During his stay in Ohio his interest in 
educational work did not diminish. He es- 
tablished the Ohio Valley Academy, and 
was appointed examiner to Marietta College 
and also for Lane Seminary. 

The hearts of the exiled Bereans were 
true to their former home and work, and 
though temporarily engaged elsewhere, they 
watched for the first opportunity to return. 

In the summer of 1862 they thought the 
way was open, and though there was strife 
in the country, they thought that it would 
be wise to return and endure any needed 
privations and suffering with their old 
friends. Accordingly Mr. Fee and Mr. Rog- 
ers made all arrangements to return. Mr. 
Fee was detained in Cincinnati, while Mrs. 
Fee and her two oldest children went in 
their carriage across the country, and before 
they reached Berea were joined by Mr. 



L.ofC. 




REV. GEORGE CANDEE. 

One of the first Trustees of Berea College. 



THE EXILES loi 



Rogers in his buggy. Upon their arrival at 
Richmond, fifteen miles from Berea, they 
found there a Union army, 10,000 strong, 
to oppose the Confederate Army, under Gen- 
eral Kirby Smith, advancing through Cum- 
berland Gap. It was with some difficulty 
they got through the lines, but soon con- 
vinced the officers they were "true Union 
Blue." 

* Immediately upon reaching Berea Mr. 
Rogers, with the aid of some carpenters, be- 
gan making necessary repairs upon his 
house to make it comfortable for the return 
of his family. On the third day, as they 
were working on the roof, the firing of can- 
non was heard and was soon succeeded by 
volleys of musketry. The battle of Rich- 
mond had begun only a few miles from 
Berea, and proved to be one of the hardest- 
fought and most disastrous to the Union 
forces of any of the battles of the war. 

The result of the battle stopped all 
thought of work at Berea for the present. 
The Confederate soldiers after this battle 
advanced to the south bank of the Ohio 
River. 

Then came a reign of terror for pro- 
nounced Union men in Kentucky, and many 
fled from their homes. Mr. Rogers and Mr. 



I02 BEREA COLLEGE 



Tenia 11 Tlioiiipsoii, a faithful Berean, often 
hid in a pine tiiicket. Mr. Thompson was 
afterward taken prisoner and sent to Lib- 
by Prison, where lie wns contined for 
months, from the effects of which he never 
entirely recovered. 

After six weeks of this life Mr. Rogers, 
feeling that for the present the door was 
closed in Berea, in view of his wife's in- 
ability to hear from him or to join him, 
felt he must at all hazards return to his 
family, still in Ohio. Mounting his inval- 
uable horse, Rosa, by circuitous routes 
through the mountains and by-ways, at one 
time coming in contact with Confederate 
soldiers, and at others within sound of their 
guns, he reached the Ohio River and swam 
his horse across it, and late at night, to 
the joy of all, reached his family, who fear- 
ed his principles had cost him his life. A 
single incident of his escape will show the 
feeling at that time in Kentucky even 
among Union people. 

After several providential escapes one 
day he reached, in the evening, the house 
of a family on Red River, where he was 
told that a Union man could get enter- 
tainment for the night. The Emancipation 
Proclamation had recently been made, and 



THE EXILES 103 



at supper the woman of the house said: 

''When you get to Ohio tell everybody we 
want to cut old Lincoln's heart out for free- 
ing the niggers." 

Mr. Rogers was quiet for a minute, and 
then replied soberly: 

"Lincoln has done right." 

The woman lifted her hands in horror 
and replied: 

"If you had said that anywhere else, 
your life would not be worth a straw." 

From what he learned in the evening he 
did not know that it was worth a straw 
there and spent a sleepless night. However, 
in the morning he was kindly helped on 
his way. 

After the battle at Perryville and the 
driving of the Confederate soldiers from 
the State, Mrs. Fee and her cliildren re- 
turned to Ohio, going with her husband to 
Clermont county, on the Ohio River, above 
Cincinnati. 

About the close of the war Mr. Fee and 
family returned to Berea, where Mrs. Fee 
and her daugliter gathered the children of 
sympathizing families and opened a little 
school. Soon after Mr. Fee went to Camp 
Nelson, where he did excellent work for the 
colored soldiers. 



I04 BEREA COLLEGE 



Camp Nelson was in a great bend of the 
Kentuekj River, soutli of Nicbolasville, and 
was a natural fortification, high, beauti- 
ful, Avell watered and not equalled for camp 
purposes by any place in the State. Two 
regiments of colored soldiers were there, and 
with the co-operation of the officers Mr. 
Fee secured a building and teachers for 
them, and afterward, when it was a camp 
of refuge for women and children, organ- 
ized a churcli and establislied a permanent 
school, whicli, under tlie care of Miss Robe, 
one of tlie noblest of women, continues to 
this day and is a blessing to many. 

In the fall of 'G5 Mr. and Mrs. W. W. 
Wheeler, wlio had been teaching for some 
years under the American Missionary Asso- 
ciation among the Freedmen, and just pre- 
viously at Camp Nelson, went to Berea to 
labor there, and taught the fall term of 
the district scliool. Mr. Wheeler at the be- 
ginning of the war was an Oberlin student, 
and at the call for arms volunteered as a 
soldier. He was taken prisoner in West 
Virginia, and for months was confined in 
Southern prisons. Mrs. Wheeler, a woman 
of deep faith and quiet courage, was a most 
efficient helper in the early Berea work. 
It w^as she who taught the first colored 



THE EXILES 105 

children in tlie place, gathering them to- 
gether in her OAvn house for instruction. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler gave themselves 
to the work in hand most unselfishly and 
had much to do with the early growth of the 
college. 

During the same fall Mr. and Mrs. Rogers 
returned to Berea to take up the work they 
h^d left so suddenly years before. 



io6 BEREA COLLEGE 



CHAPTER XII. 

REOPENING AFTER THE WAR. 

In JcUiuary, 18GG, after abundant thanks- 
givings for all God's mercies, the school 
which had been closed for six years was 
reopened, with Mr. Rogers still as princi- 
pal and Mr. Wheeler and Miss Snedaker 
as assistant teachers. 

Though noAv a college in name and with 
a number of advanced students, the rudi- 
ments of knowledge were also taught, and 
to not a few quite advanced in years. All 
went prosperously till near the close of the 
term, when three colored children were ad- 
mitted. 

It seemed but a little matter that there 
were admitted into the primary department 
some quiet, well-behaved children, hardly to 
be distinguished from their companions in 
complexion, and certainly not in any other 
way; but this course ran against preju- 
dices as strong as those of the Jews when 
Jesus mingled with tax-gatherers and as- 
sociated with Samaritans. 

In the primary department, where the 



ii 



AFTER THE WAR io7 



children were, no stir was made by the new 
arrivals. The children hardly noticed their 
presence, for they had played w^ith them at 
their homes and were not in the least dis- 
turbed. But it was very different in the 
academic department. 

At morning prayers the principal had ad- 
dressed the school and showed that it was 
tfee work of nobility to treat those having 
less culture with kindness, expanding the 
old adage, ''Noblesse oblige," and showing 
that the more privileges a person has, the 
greater is his obligation to extend them to 
others. Especially was it shown that if 
one would have a Christian spirit he must 
be gentle and loving, and nuver by word or 
act show scorn and contempt for those seek- 
ing to become wiser and better. They were 
reminded that in the best colleges of the 
United States colored students were receiv- 
ed, and that it was a duty and also a privi- 
lege, even at the cost of some self-denial, 
in all suitable ways to encourage and help 
the lowly. 

The words were not powerless, but life- 
long habits and prejudices were deep and 
not easily overcome. 

The school went on as usual, but there 
was an oppression in the air, which every 



io8 BEREA COLLEGE 



one felt. Finally a young man got up, and 
with downcast head quietly left the room. 
Then two or three others, and then some 
young ladies, but all with a solemnity deep- 
er than that of the grave. When it became 
evident that no one could possibly think of 
studies, the principal addressed them again 
in quiet, persuasive words, and closed by 
turning to those who were left and asking, 
''Will ye also go away?" After that no one 
left and the school work went on. 

A great clamor arose among many in the 
neighborhood, who wonaered "Why well 
enough could not be let alone," and why 
the peace of the community should be again 
disturbed and the prosperity of the school 
destroyed; but the teachers went on their 
Avay quietly, giving closest attention to 
the minutiae of school work, keeping good 
heart and bidding their friends not to be dis- 
mayed at the dark clouds, w^hich would pass 
away. 

Some of the students who left returned, 
and new ones kept coming, among others 
those who were still wearing the blue in 
which they had served in the army. By 
the next term the ranks were largely filled 
up. 

The young people who remained, like the 



AFTER THE WAR 109 



Rawlings, Burdetts, Harrisons and others 
of that sturdy class, unmoved by prejudice, 
in after years brought honor to themselves, 
their college and their country. Those who 
braved reproach, even if few, were worth 
a whole army of those who drifted with 
public opinion. 

In order to show the spirit of these stu- 
dents and others who came somewhat later, 
sketches of some of them are given in their 
own words. 

One of them said: 

"When I was a boy I was called upon 
to run bullets to shoot down the abolition- 
ists. In later years I attended the anni- 
versary exercises, of the school. Before 
that day I had some respectable opinion of 
myself, but then I saw my ignorance. I re- 
solved then, if I could get the means, I would 
go to school at Berea. After I had been to 
school for a time I was obliged to stop to 
help my father build a grist-mill. After we 
had the mill completed an unusual freshet 
carried it away. For a time the world look- 
ed darker than ever before. My hopes were 
dashed, but I afterwards found in the hay- 
loft that God could perform impossibilities, 
and after a time I returned to Berea." 

Another who had the foreign mission 




REV. OTIS B. WATERS. 

An early teacher at the Berea Public School. 



AFTER THE WAR iii 



field in view gave this account of himself: 

*'I was among those who left Berea at 
the time colored students were admitted. 
For awhile I was very wild, but I had no 
peace within until I decided to return to 
school. I met great opposition for a time 
from companions and relatives. An uncle 
offered to defray my expenses if I would 
^ave Berea and go to some other institution, 
but God has helped me, and I have got 
along some way, I hardly know how." 

The following sketch is almost as appli- 
cable to a number of students as to this 
particular one: 

"I was born a slave, and obtained my 
freedom during the war, though previously 
I had a great many privileges. I had learn- 
ed to read and a little of arithmetic, when 
in the winter of '66-'67 I heard of Berea. I 
made up my mind to go there at once. As 
I reached the place I inquired the way to 
Berea, and was told I was in Berea already. 
A pre^iy college, I thought to myself— rough 
buildings, unpainted and unplastered. But 
I had had too hard work getting through 
the mud for the last six miles to think of 
leaving that night. I soon found that if 
Berea had not buildings it had men and 



112 BEREA COLLEGE 



scholars, and if I wished to get knowledge 
there was tlie spot." 

The immediate coming of a young girl 
to Berea from Michigan was due, slie said, 
"to the influence of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. 
Wheeler, wliose zeal Avas so infectious tliat 
I felt I must go to that missionary insti- 
tution. By alternate studying and teaching 
I was able to defray my expenses. Now 
my own enthusiastic love of Berea College 
is not less than that of those who induced 
me to come South for an education." 

Those were busy days in Berea. New 
families kept coming,* and new homes were 
erected, and the delights of accomplish- 
ment and increased knowledge filled all with 
enthusiasm and hope. Additional lands 
were purchased by the college and a town 
laid out and village lots sold. Mr. J. G. 
Hanson, who had been among the first to 
return after the war. with his brothers. 
Samuel and Arthur, rebuilt the sawmill 

*The writer would gladly give a list of families wbich 
came to Berea before the war and those who came in 
the years immediately following, but it is not practicable 
1o give a complete list, and a partial list would seem 
invidious. Suffice it to say emphatically that they wer*» 
all important factors in the establishment and growth of 
Berea College; that without their aid the college could 
hardly have existed. 



AFTER THE WAR 113 



which had been destroj^ed. This mill and 
the money brought by students and new 
comers added to the wealth of that part 
of the county and interest in the growing- 
school. 

The increase of pupils of all classes, some 
scarcely knowing their letters and others 
studying Latin, Greek and the sciences, de- 
manded an additional force of teachers. 
Aside from Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Mr. and 
Mrs. Wheeler, Rev. W. E. Lincoln and Miss 
Snedaker already mentioned, there were soon 
added Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Donaldson, Miss 
Pratt, Miss Sabra Clark, Miss Peck and 
Miss Louisa Kaiser, noble women, some of 
whom were college graduates, and all full 
of zeal for the work in whicli they were 
engaged. 

In these days Henry F. Clark, a graduate 
of Oberlin, a scholar of great accuracy and 
a very superior teacher, was made profes- 
sor of Latin, and Mr. Rogers, in addition to 
his position of principal and treasurer, was 
made professor of Greek. Mr. Fee was ap- 
pointed lecturer on the "Evidences of Chris- 
tianity" and made a member of the faculty.* 

♦These professorships must not lead any one to sup- 
pose that the practical needs of the mass of students 
were neglected. 



114 BEREA COLLEGE 

The good providence of God was certain- 
ly witli tlie school when it was able to se- 
cure persons of such exceptional ability as 
teachers and Christian workers as those 
noble women and Professor Clark, whose 
scholarly tastes and ways met the ideal of 
a college professor. 

As the number of students increased 
there was a necessity for more buildings to 
accommodate them. At first two neat cot- 
tages were built near the old district school 
house, so constructed that after temporary 
use for school purposes they could be turned 
into dwellings. It was the purpose to re- 
move the school as soon as possible over 
to the grounds already purchased for a col- 
lege site, nearly half a mile distant. 

The college campus embraces about sev- 
enty acres in a fine grove of native maples 
and oaks, with some evergreens which have 
been added. It begins on the Glades, al- 
ready described, near the foot of the ridge, 
and extends over to the foot of the ridge 
on the other side near to Elizabeth Branch,* 

•Elizabeth Branch, originally Brushy Fork, Is named af- 
ter one of the early workers, one who taught in Berea 
when there was little there but brush and possibilities. 
After teaching months without any suitable or endurable 
home for herself and family, she found in one of her quiet 



AFTER THE WAR 115 



a fork of Silver Creek. On the westward of 
the campus is a small ravine, dividing the 
college green from the ridge beyond, and 
on the eastward is a small park separating 
it from the part of the village which lies 
beyond. Chestnut street runs through the 
campus from east to west, separating the 
grounds of the Ladies' Hall and President's 
house from the larger part of the campus 
on which are most of the college buildings. 
These are mainly on the brow of the ridge 
as it falls down to the lower level. The 
configuration of the ground here is such 
that most of these buildings form an arc 
of a circle. If the writer was correct in 

walks an old deserted log cabin on the banks of this 
creek, containing an upper and lower room, with a tum- 
bled down kitchen in the rear. This was speedily se- 
cured, and willing hands brightened the inner walls with 
a wash made from light blue clay, found in the creek 
near by. A simple carpet was laid; muslin curtains 
graced the windows; the plainest of furnishings, scarcely 
more than the necessities, found their places quickly; 
books lined the walls; the sunlight shone through the 
windows and babies' voices made sweet music. It was 
a cosy place to gather the students for a good time, 
and rude as it was, it was home. The house built af- 
terward on the "hill," though more commodious, was 
not more welcomed. Though many comforts came to 
these early workers in later years, they look back still 
with deep affection to their "old cabin home" on this 
branch. 



ii6 BEREA COLLEGE 



sayinii* (hat this whole roiiioii, so romarkablo 
for Its boauty and so shaptnl as to lorin 
gateways into the nionntains and make 
Berea a eonneetin.u' link between the Blue 
Grass and the hill eonntry, Avas arranj;ed of 
God for this piu-pose when lie made it. he 
miiiht with eiinal propriety say the land of 
the campus was shaped by the sanu^ hand 
for one of the most beautiful and desirable 
collejie iirounds to be found in the land. 

No description iiives an adeiiuate vit^w of 
the btniuty o^ the situation. No i)ainter can 
portray the purple haze on the hills; one 
needs to be on the spot to eateh the ever 
ehanjiiuij: jilory of which nature is so lavish; 
one needs to be iluM*e to see and feel the 
strentith of the (^viMiastiuii* Hills round about 
Berea, as they were round about Jerusalem. 

The clearinjr of this campus from under- 
brush and superfluous trees and jirubbini:: 
of stumps was no small task, but was grad- 
ually accomplished in tlu^ course of two or 
three years. The work was done by stu- 
dents who were glad in this w^ay to pay a 
part of tluMr school expenses. 

At this time was erected a good frame 
building for a boarding house, with rooms 
in the sec^ond story for students. This was 
soon followed by a dormitory for young 



AFTER THE IV A R 117 



ladies, and the boarding' department was 
moved to its larger quarters. 

During the tirst years after tlie school 
was reopened there was a great influx of 
students from everj^ (luarter, and of every 
shade of complexion. The wiiite students 
were largely from the mountains, but by no 
means exclusively. The Blue Grass and 
counties in Kentucivj^ contiguous to the Ohio 
Uiver furnished (luite a contingent, while 
some of the brightest and t)est young peo- 
ple of the North were drawn there by vari- 
ous reasons, the chief motive being the ex- 
cellent instruction given, the cheapness of 
living and the cheerful atmosphere of the 
college, and the blacks came freely. Berea 
was known as the place where the colored 
man was treated with kindness and where 
his children could obtain knowledge. 

The colored folk were not the only per- 
sons who were moving to Berea. There 
were many white families who coveted edu- 
cation for their children and were glad to 
secure this at any cost. The Hansons' saw 
and planing mills gave employment for 
many persons, and mechanics were needed 
for the new buildings, both of the college 
and the citizens. 

To accommodate the increasing number 



ii8 BEREA COLLEGE 



of students it was necessary to throw to- 
gether in haste many temporary buildings. 
These were built of rough planlv, put up 
endways and rudely battened with lath, 
both outside and inside. These were so 
crowded tliat some young men were forced 
to occupy attics, reached by ladders, in 
roonjs so low that a person could stand erect 
only under the ridge. 

A rude chapel of similar construction, 
very rougli and barn-like, was built, and 
when not used for college purpose and Sun- 
day worship was divided into school rooms 
with swinging partitions. So many and con- 
stant were tlie demands for money that this 
bullcling was used for worship for years, and 
long after it seemed, to one who was a mem- 
ber of the faculty and a trustee, that a 
more desirable place should be secured. As 
Cato always closed liis speeches with 
*'Cartliage must be destroyed," he, whenever 
opportunity offered, was wont to say, "We 
must have a new chapel." At last Provi- 
dence came to the rescue, as the old chapel 
took fire and was burned to the ground, and 
a new one more suitable was soon erected. 

All the teachers were so busy they had 
hardly time to eat. Each new comer, 
whether student or citizen must be received 



AFTER THE WAR 119 



and cared for. Work must be provided 
for all who wished to toil, with the axe or 
in the kitchen; those who had nothing to 
pay for tuition or books must be advised 
and encouraged to do all possible for them- 
selves; meetings must be attended, and all 
those things done which pertain to a young 
and growing settlement. Scholarly as were 
the tastes of most of the teachers, the de- 
mand upon them outside of the classroom 
must be met and every student watched, to 
see that he studied both wisely and faith- 
fully. 

The coming of the black people to Berea 
for a time was phenomenal. Black Valley, 
a mile away from the college, swarmed 
with them, from the pickaninny to the old 
granny in the chimney corner. Berea was 
the land of promise, and to reach it, with all 
they had on their backs, or at best in a 
rickety old cart, was the fulfillment of 
their hopes. To care for these grown-up, 
trusting children was a hard task and 
touched the hearts of the workers, and their 
pocketbooks as well. The men worked In 
the fields, the women washed for the folks 
on the ''hill," and the aged and helpless 
were fed from pantries which were never 
overstocked. 



^ 




REV. WILLIAM E. LINCOLN. 

An early teacher in the Berea Public School 
and later in the Academy. 



AFTER THE WAR 121 



The tuition, low as it was; the books and 
other necessary things required for the ad- 
v^ancement of the students, were expenses 
hard to meet, for the very poor, both black 
and white, were encouraged to pay their 
bills as far as possible. How the deficit, 
which was large, was made up only the 
Lord and those most interested can tell. 
Mothers wove heavy table linen, which was 
given in exchange for these bills; money 
was scarce, so the pay must be in barter, 
and no one was turned away who brought 
anything to sell, if it could be avoided. 

Butter that would not have been sala- 
ble in a city market, under the circum- 
stances was gladly received, and if a vivid 
imagination was needed to make it palat- 
able, doubtless that quality was not lack- 
ing. In the face of a market sixteen miles 
away no one could be too particular. Ber- 
ries, eggs, chickens were brought in small 
quantities, but large enough to meet the 
small tuition fees and to give the feeling 
of independence. 

In the earlier years after the war the 
influx of colored scholars was such that 
for a time they slightly exceeded in num- 
ber the whites, but as good schools for the 
blacks were opened in various parts of the 



122 BEREA COLLEGE 



State and the influx of white students from 
"the mountains" and the North increased 
the ratio was changed. The school is open 
to all, with wise regulations for the highest 
welfare and comfort of each student, and 
with this open door to all, the ratio of 
white to colored students varies somewhat. 
Many think it should be about that of the 
white to the colored population of the State, 
six to one, and to this the present ratio ap- 
proximates. 



THE DONORS 123 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE DONORS. 

Though everything done by the college 
was done in the most economical way pos- 
sible, yet for these improvements, crude as 
they were, and for the payment of teach- 
ers, considerable money was required. 

Those upon whom rested the responsibil- 
ity of carrying on the school were perfectly 
agreed upon one thing: that whatever mon- 
ey was needed must be sought from the 
Lord, for the school was dedicated to Him, 
and they had faith, imperfect as it was, that 
their requests would be heard and answ^ered. 

They were not quite certain as to what 
methods they should use, or whether they 
should follow the example of MuUer and 
use scarcely any. As time wore on, without 
ceasing to put their trust in God as the 
source of help, they w^rote letters to friends, 
iind to a limited extent to the press, and. 
when driven to it by necessity, went to such 
persons as they believed would be glad to 
help in this work. Until 1869, when Presi- 
dent Fairchild came to Berea, the work of 



124 BEREA COLLEGE 



raising funds devolved entirely on Mr. Fee 
and Mr. Rogers. 

Soon after the school was reopened Mr. 
Rogers wrote to his friend Mr. J. P. Willis- 
ton, of Northampton, Mass., and told him 
what was being done at Berea. He replied 
with a check of $100, saying "You may ex- 
pect as much yearly, so long as you are 
doing such good work." He increased his 
annual donation to $500, and one year it 
was $1800. 

In those early days $500 was needed for 
a payment on land, and shut up to God, 
the brethren were making known to Him 
their wants, when they received from Rev. 
Lemuel Foster, of Illinois, of whom they 
had never heard, a check for $500, a do- 
nation afterward trebled by him and his 
worthy wife. In one mail to the school 
were the following four letters: One with a 
bill for $500, another with a bill for $200, 
while a third from a good lady in Ohio said 
that she had $500 to lend the college, and 
the fourth contained a donation of $300. 
Still the workers were often brought into 
very great straits. At that time they had 
no rich friends in Kentucky to whom they 
could go, and the banks did not have the 



THE DONORS 125 



unbounded confidence in the financial ability 
of the college wliich they bad afterward. 

iNIany interesting experiences migbt be 
given, but two or three must suffice. 

The principal, while raii*ing money, spent 
the night with a clergyman, and he and 
his wife got him to tell about the Berea 
work. As he retired the host said: "I am 
very sorry vre have no money to give you." 
At breakfast next morning he said: "I was 
hasty last night; I have $220 for you. My 
daughter was so deeply interested in the 
work she could not sleep and has decided to 
go without the piano, for which she had the 
money, and accept an organ, and this mon- 
ey is the difference in the cost." 

At one time Mr. Rogers, as treasurer, 
found that a considerable sum must be 
paid in a week. This was unexpected, but 
he felt that the credit of the college must 
be sustained, and making the best arrange- 
ment he could for his classes, went to Cin- 
cinnati, hoping in a few hours to get what 
was needed, but finding it impracticably, 
pushed on to New York, and getting a rela- 
tive to advance the needed sum, remained 
in New York till he could, through dona- 
tions, repay the money lent. He called on 
Mr. R. R. Graves and told him his story. 



126 BEREA COLLEGE 



Ho responded generously, and also sent for 
his brother to give his aid. 

Mr. Graves afterward gave large sums to 
Berea, and was one of its devoted support- 
ers as long as he lived. It is chiefly to him 
that the college owes its large ''Ladies' 
Hall." At another time, in great perplex- 
ity, Mr. Rogers called on Mr. A. S. Hatch, 
of New York, who responded so cheerfully 
and his heart was so lightened that he told 
a friend he felt as if he could leap over the 
tallest building in the city.* The heroism 
and patience with which the Bereans had 
met all persecutions appealed to many 
hearts and opened many purses to help for- 
ward the work. Not very long after the 
school was reopened Chaplain Noble, Super- 
intendent of Education for the Freedmen's 
Bureau in Kentucky, and formerly principal 
of an Eastern academy, visited Berea, and 
carefully examined the work and attended 
various classes. In a detailed report of the 
school to General Howard he states that he 



♦Mr. Hatch, beside making one of the largest dona- 
tions to the College it had ever received, gave Mr. 
Rogers the following note to a prominent banker: 

"Dear Sir: Allow mo to introduce you to Mr. Rogers. 

If you ever find as good a thing* as he has let me know. 

"Yours truly, 

"A. S. HATCH." 



THE DONORS 127 



witnessed examinations in ttie classics and 
algebra equal to anything he had ever 
known in the four best training schools in 
New England. By reason of this report, 
and an additional one by General Runkle, 
$18,000 was given by the Freedmen's Bu- 
reau for a building, which was erected for 
a dormitory for young men and for recitation 
rooms, and has been used for that purpose 
ever since. 

Various publishers gave of their books 
to the library, which w^as begun as soon as 
the school was started, and is now the larg- 
est library in the State. When the Apple- 
tons gave their Cyclopaedia there was great 
Joy in the hearts of teachers and students. 

In January, 1869, Mr. Rogers thought, 
after consulting with others, that it would 
be wise to hold a public meeting at the fa- 
mous Cooper Institute, in New York city, 
with addresses from prominent men, and 
made arrangements accordingly. Dr. J. P. 
Thompson was asked to preside, which he 
did with great dignity. There were many 
vice presidents, among them Horace Gree- 
ley, then at the height of his fame. Dr. 
Howard Crosby, Henry Ward Beecher and 
Dr. Storrs were the principal speakers. Mr. 
Fee and President E. H. Fairchild, who had 



128 BEREA COLLEGE 



not yet gone to Berea, also made short ad- 
dresses. The meeting was large and en- 
thusiastic and was widely reported. These 
addresses by some ot the wisest and most 
distinguished men of the land show so clear- 
ly how the school was regarded by them, 
and give so many reasons Avhy they looked 
upon it as of xevy great national importance, 
that some extracts are given. 

Dr. Thompson, in his opening remarks, 
said: 

''That feature of this institution which 
especially commends itself to my confidence 
is that it is a school for the training of men 
without reference to race. It is a school 
which in its fundamental principle over- 
rules distinctions of caste and brings togeth- 
er men and women to receive knowledge 
from the same fountain— guidance from the 
same teachers. This principle of equality, 
this principle of fraternity, this recognition 
of simple manhood was begun long ago in 
this institution, before the war, and was 
maintained by gentlemen some of whom are 
here to-night to represent that period as well 
as the opening period of prosperity. These 
Berea ns, like the Berea ns of old, searched 
the Scriptures and there discovered that 
undying principle which is beginning at last 



THE DONORS 129 



to be asserted in the civil policy of the Na- 
tion, that God hath made of one blood all 
nations of men, and this they adopted as 
their college motto." 

Henry Ward Beecher, in his remarks, said: 
*'This Cooper Union Hall has become a 
part of our American history, and will be 
referred to in after-times as is old Faneuil 
Hall in Boston. I have been here, I do not 
know how many times, under scenes of great 
excitement; I have seen this hall packed again 
and again with an audience fairly roaring 
with zeal, and heard discussions touching 
almost everj^ point of policy and almost 
every point of truth as it relates to national 
life and governmental efficienc3% yet I never 
stood on this platform when it discussed a 
subject of greater moment than that of na- 
tional education. No other subject that has 
been so fundamental have I ever heard dis- 
cussed as this one that convenes us here to- 
night. If it is not a topic that excites great 
enthusiasm, it is all the better if it feeds 
principle, if it beds itself deep in your 
thoughts and ministers to those silent forces 
of human life which, like the silent forces of 
nature, are after all the most fruitful and 
enduring." 

Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, one of the ablest 




MR. FEE'S RESIDENCE. 

Destroyed by fire in 1877. 



THE DONORS 131 



men in the Presbyterian Churcti, made the 
next address and said in part: 

"Tliis Berea College lias grown naturally, 
altliougli in apparently a bad soil. It lias 
grown naturally, and hence it ought to be 
supported by us. And more than that, it 
has been nursed in affliction. Strong insti- 
tutions, like strong men, are those tliat come 
out of a great deal of affliction in their in- 
fancy. Some die, it is true, in their cradle, 
but those that survive are giants, and 
the Berea College has gone through that 
severe ordeal which makes a strong institu- 
tion. On tliat account we ought to give it 
our earnest sympathy and our hearty lielp. 
Then it is in the riglit place. It is Ken- 
tucky curing Kentucky. The influence of 
that college has already in that neighbor- 
hood awakened an enlightened sentiment 
which nothing else in that State has done." 

The last address of the meeting was by 
Rev. Dr. Storrs, from which are given two 
paragraphs: 

'T am rejoiced to be here to manifest my 
interest in this seminary, because of the he- 
roism which has been exhibited by those 
who created it and who conduct it at the 
present time. To this reference has already 
been made, but the full impression of it 



132 BEREA COLLEGE 



could not be made upon us without a more 
minute and particular recital of circum- 
stances in their experience. I rejoice in com- 
ing in contact with that tough, tenacious, 
indomitable spirit which lias been manifest- 
ed there, and has at last brought forth its 
fruit in the success which it has already 
attained. When our limp muscles take hold 
now and then by an impulse and start in 
some enterprise, and we push it along a lit- 
tle and think we have done a great deal 
we feel invigorated personally, mentally re- 
enforced and replenished with new vigor, 
as we come in contact with a muscle that 
has held steady and true twelve years and 
never relinquished it, but carried it in the 
midst of difficulties such as are rarely en- 
countered. I do not believe that any of us 
really think how much has been attained in 
simply solving that question of combining 
whites and blacks in the same institution, 
sitting side by side on the same benches, 
studying out of the same text books, on 
Southern soil. We have been meditating 
over that question year after year, how that 
thing was to be done, and these men have 
gone and done it. They have actually done 
the thing and blacks and whites are study- 
ing under the same roof. Berea College 



THE DONORS 133 



has solved the problem and solved it in the 
right way.'' 

He concluded by saying: 

*'This institution is one favored of God, 
an institution whose savor is the smell of a 
Held which the Lord hath blessed, on which 
the benediction of His Spirit has been be- 
stowed, and through which the purifying in- 
fluences of the Holy Ghost have flowed. 
Blessed be God for it, and for the opportu- 
nity here to-night to express our recogni- 
tion of it and those who have wrought for 
it, and also to express our readiness to help 
them in the work which they have so nobly 
commenced." 

Though the meeting was so enthusiastic, 
the collection at the time was less than was 
hoped, but it called tlie attention of many to 
the school. Mr. Abner Beers, of Connecti- 
cut, after reading a report of the meeting in 
the New York papers, sent to the treasurer 
a sum which, though comparatively small, 
led to his giving later many thousand dol- 
lars. 

This impulse to help the liberal sentiment 
that was manifesting itself in the South, and 
to reward the loyal mountaineers who had 
held Kentucky in the Union and performed 
such great services to the national cause in 



134 BEREA COLLEGE 



West Mrginia and Tennessee — this feeling 
that the best way to help the South was to 
help an educational institution like Berea, 
which was national in principle— has always 
been a chief source of friendship and sup- 
port. 



THE SCHOOL'S LIFE 135 



CHAPTER XIV. 

LIFE OF THE SCHOOL. 

The last two chapters have given a brief 
sketch of the rapid growth of the school for 
the three years after it was reopened in 
1866, and of the friends who rallied to its 
support. 

Thougli these are matters of interest, it 
is the life of the school in these years 
that the writer would present as tlie thing 
of real importance, and the very tiling which 
it is most difficult to describe in any ade- 
quate manner. Life in any of its forms is 
a subtle, elusive thing, and known only 
through results, only a part of which are 
visible and capable of description. In the 
life of a person or an institution there is 
something beyond what can be set forth in 
words; it must be felt to be known. In the 
presence of a person something is felt which 
previously was only faintly imagined, how- 
ever fully described. No one who was not 
connected with the Berea School in those 
days can have an adequate idea of the vivid- 
ness and force of its life. 



136 BEREJ COLLEGE 



The dominating thing in the school, and 
that which really produced its life, however 
it was manifested, was trust in God. It was 
far enough from being perfect, and was not 
so clearly informed by a clear knowledge 
of Christ and His love and purposes as it 
should lune been, but though it was defec- 
tive in many ways, it was genuine. Those 
who had the school in charge had given 
themselves to God and had an undeviating 
purpose, so far as they knew it, to do 
Christ's will. Then they were persons with 
tough fibre, some of them very quiet and 
gentle, but with a fixity of purpose that 
could not be moved. When they were driv- 
en from the State and openings came to 
them that would have dazzled their eyes if 
ambitious, they had no thought of turning 
aside from their chosen work. Though years 
elapsed after their exile before their return, 
they went back as eagerly and with as fixed 
a resolve as if they had returned in a month. 
It was useless to attempt to turn thorn aside 
from that to which they felt without a 
shadow of doubt the Lord had called them. 

Their full belief that the Lord was for 
them filled the teachers with hope ard help- 
ed them to impart thoir courage to the 
school, but their real life was the Lord in 



THE SCHOOL'S LIFE 137 



them, not in very full measure, for they had 
too much selfishness and blindness for this, 
but in such a measure as enabled them to 
do joj^fuUj^ the work upon Avhich they had 
entered. 

This life manifested itself in various ways. 
One of its most striking i^eculiarities was its 
hopefulness. Under the inspiration of this 
hope difficulties w^ere almost disregarded. 
When obstacles arose they felt that they 
were not to be mourned over but overcome. 

To the early teachers and leaders later 
trials seemed so trifling in comparison with 
what they had experienced in the past that 
they were scarcely to be mentioned. Those 
who had faced mobs and threats of death and 
had come off triumphant were not disposed 
to stop their work because of sneers or the 
croakings of those who said they were at- 
tempting the impossible. Had not He to 
whom the school had been dedicated pre- 
served it and prospered it beyond all their 
hopes, and why should they be disturbed by 
those who said, "If a fox should leap over 
your walls he would break them down"? 
This hope made them forget their poverty 
and insignificance in the eyes of most of the 
people in the State. Students were happy 
if they could crowd into an attic for shelter. 



138 BEREA COLLEGE 



and the families of teachers were satisfied 
although tlieir homes were narrow and often 
overcrowded with guests, high and low, 
rich and poor. If the housewives could not 
give tlieir guests any but the plainest fare 
on the plainest linen, they could give them 
the heartiest welcome in an atmosphere so 
full of good cheer that choice viands would 
hardly be missed. 

This hopefulness led them to what a care- 
less observer might regard as recklessness 
in the things attempted to be done. To es- 
tablish a school in the heart of Kentucky, 
opposed to the inveterate prejudices of the 
people of the State, in itself seemed fool- 
hardy, but to open a school which was free 
alike to whites and blacks and those of both 
sexes seemed to double the difficulties. If, 
disregarding God's leadings, the founders 
had stopped to discuss this matter in the 
abstract, they might well have been ap- 
palled at the attempt. But the college had 
existed in embryo in the Berea school, and 
what exists in embryo continues in the fu- 
ture development. From the first the desire 
was to find out and follow God's plan. This, 
those who had the school in charge were 
fully aware, required the exercise of ill 



THE SCHOOL'S LIFE 139 



their powers of mind and heart and spirit- 
ual perception. 

It was not an easy-going life of sloth and 
indifference, but one requiring the greatest 
activity of mind and at the same time hu- 
mility and patient waiting on God for wis- 
dom. The workers fully appreciated that 
their difficulties were great— the difficulties 
of a new departure in that region, the diffi- 
culty of blending into unity all the diverse ele- 
ments of sex, color, condition and of previous 
training— all these and many others they 
knew full well, and felt the pressure of them 
daily, until their very life would have been 
pressed out of them but for that fullness 
of hope which would not allow desponden- 
cy. Their courage was strengthened by the 
constant growth of the school and village. 
New families were coming in, new pupils 
were flocking to Berea, for to those in the 
mountains the school of their longings was 
found on the Berea Ridge. 

New buildings too were rising, sometimes 
almost over night, and, rude as they were, 
they were shelters, and those who had late- 
ly been soldiers were not disposed to be 
overscrupulous. Then not a few were great- 
ly lifted up, because with two or three terms 
of school they would themselves be able to 




KENTUCKY GIRLS ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL. 



THE SCHOOL'S LIFE 141 



leach, while to some the ability to read and 
write Avas au achievemeut almost beyond 
their highest hope.- 

Anotlier manifestation of the life of the 
school was in the spirit of work, of real 
work to the fullest ability. The teachers 
worked with all their might, for necessity 
was laid upon them. No one considered how 
many hours must be spent in teaching, but 
how manj^ of the pressing needs of the pu- 
pils could be met. The necessitj^ that knows 
no law gave them little rest, for while some 
were studying the ancient languages, math- 
ematics and sciences, others were learning 
the rudiments of arithmetic and geography, 
and all must be taught. The students caught 
the spirit of their teachers and worked with 
all their might, for they knew a future was 
before them which depended upon tlieir dili- 
gence. Almost all wrought with their hands 
as well as brains, cutting trees, grubbing 
roots, and, if at all skilled, shoving the saw 
and swinging the hammer. 

Girls were alike busy cooking, not from 
theories given bj^ experts, but cooking tlie 
plainest food to meet the wants of hungry 
students. Some young girls worked for 
their board in private homes, while a few 
earned their way partly by their needles. 



142 BEREA COLLEGE 



AH were busy, and if there were drones in 
the hive, they felt they were out of their 
element and sooner or later left the school. 

While hard work was the leading char- 
acteristic of all, free joyousness, sometimes 
hilarious sports, were abundant. Mountain 
picnics were tlie occasions of great enjoy- 
ment, wlien teachers and pupils, spending 
the day together on the hill tops, learned 
some beautiful lessons not found in text 
books. Social gatherings at the professors' 
houses and tlie homes of the citizens were 
frequent, where there was a free unbending 
which in older scliools might have been im- 
possible, or at least unwise. Thanksgiving 
Day was a new thing to almost all of the 
students, but a single experience of its feast- 
ing led them to say it was almost as good 
as Christmas. So with the lieartiness in 
their work came the abandonment of joy 
in their pleasures, tliat restored the equi- 
librium of life. Tlie Ku Klux Klans or the 
coarse jeers of drunken, liostile men and the 
careless firing of their pistols through the 
streets and the whizzing of bullets some- 
times dangerously near did not often produce 
any permanent fear. 

The unity of the school life was promoted 
by constant contact of teachers and students, 



THE SCHOOL'S LIFE 143 



but the life of the school manifested itself 
most fully in the church, altliougli it must 
be acknowledged the Christian life was very 
deficient. Tlie courage, the love, the forget- 
fulness of self, the delight in suffering for 
others, the apprehensions of Christ and 
the knowledge of God w^ere in germ rather 
than in fullness, but there was a measure 
of devotion to duty and a sense of Christ 
as a Saviour which was their inspiration. 

All who were true Bereans w^ere in church 
on the Lord's day, and prayer meetings were 
attended with a degree of expectation of 
getting the things asked. The angels as 
they looked down in the darkness of night, 
not only into the quiet homes, but into the 
thickets, saw some earnestly pleading for 
mercy and help. 

Students going from Berea to their homes 
showed their hope by telling of the spirit 
of the place, and returned bringing others 
with tliem. If some were reproached for 
going to a school where none were exclud- 
ed, they replied by saying Berea was the 
nearest spot to lieaven of any on earth. 
Many whose highest ambition when they 
went to Berea was to be able to teach a dis- 
trict school, cauglit the spirit of learning and 
toiled for years to complete some course of 
study. 



144 BEREA COLLEGE 



This spirit of hopefulness was not dimin- 
ished because of the difficulties and trials 
and even persecutions to some extent which 
were the lot of Bereans. 

In the village itself no one met with phys- 
ical opposition, and there was little outside 
of Berea. The only serious case was that 
of Mr. Wheeler, in Ku Klux times, when 
forty miles from Berea on business for the 
college. He Avas shot at by a drunken rab- 
ble and at midnight dragged from his room 
in the hotel and rushed into a forest, where, 
stretched upon a log, he received on his 
bare back a terrible scourging with hickory 
withes. His back Avas so lacerated that 
he carried the scarred ridges to the day of 
his death. His faithiul wife, who was wnth 
him, tried to follow him, but before she 
could dress the lawless mob had got her hus- 
band far aAvay in the darkness. Her suffer- 
ings as she thought they might be hanging 
her husband were greater than his. Mr 
Wheeler's conduct during this scourging and 
his replies to the cowards who threatened 
his life were worthy of the martyrs of early 
days. 

Another feature of the Berea life at this 
time was its large hospitality. For years 
there was no hotel in the place and those 



THE SCHOOL'S LIFE 145 



who visited the school were guests of the 
prominent teachers and worlvcrs, who at this 
time were few, while the number of the vis- 
itors was legion. Many were coming from 
the North, prominent educators, ministers, 
men curious to see this new thing in Ken- 
tuclQ\ Some from Louisville, Lexington, 
Richmond and other parts of the State were 
drawn to Berea by their acquaintance with 
tne teachers or their desire to know about 
a place everywhere spoken against. Often 
these must be helped away to the nearest 
public conveyance at Richmond, fifteen 
miles distant, and the teachers or their chil- 
dren or those who could be hired must take 
them by carriage or on horseback. The trip 
made in the small hours of the night, in 
order to connect with the early Richmond 
stage, necessitated the midnight lunch that 
seemed a fitting way to speed the parting 
guests. These late arrivals and early de- 
partures from their homes made a great 
strain upon the strength of the hostesses, 
but were counted blessed opportunities rath- 
er than heavy burdens. 

People came from the mount?} ins in still 
greater numbers, sometimes singly, some- 
times in families. Students and their par- 
ents with them naturally went to the homes 



146 BERK A COLLEGE 



of their teachers for entertainment If in 
this way some besides angels were enter- 
tained, many noble men and women, cul- 
tured and uncultured, were brought into the 
Berea homes to tind a welcome. The main 
anxiety of the housekeepers at times was 
their fear lest they be not able to tind food 
enough to supply their uncertain numbers. 
The entreaties of Avives to their husbands 
in bringing home the unexpected guests to 
dinner, that they would bring the necessa- 
ries with them from the market, could hard 
ly be answered, as the markets were for 
the most part fifteen miles away. How- 
ever, the barrel of flour never failed, and if 
guests did not fare sumptuously they never 
went away hungry. There was no disposi- 
tion to groan over these burdens; the pres- 
ence of the guests was a benediction, and 
even the unlearned contributed needed les- 
sons to these who were not laboring for 
themselves. Among the many lessons was 
that of seeing how^ different motives affect 
different men. 

One morning after breakfast, when the 
Principal was confronted by the not unusual 
question of how to make ends meet, he com- 
forted himself by the riches he possessed in 
his large and well selected library, and call- 



THE SCHOOL'S LIFE 147 



ed upon his wife to rejoice with him in their 
wealth of books and in their mercies and 
comforts, so abundant in comparison with 
those of tlie many poor about them. A lit- 
tle later a guest arriving was brought into 
the library and looking upon the well-filled 
shelves inquired of the Principal if he kept 
a book store. Upon receiving a negative 
answer, he said, "Are all those books 
yourn?" "Yes," was the reply, and then the 
quaint answer, "I reckon it's a mighty lot 
of trouble to have to read all them books," 
which convinced the host that all riches are 
not of the same sort. 

To sum up all in a word, the hopefulness 
of teachers and pupils and citizens gave 
them all a new power and enabled them to 
do cheerfullj' what without this hope would 
liave been impossible. 

This liope was not entirely a Christian 
hopefulness, yet God-given, so that the Prin- 
cipal was wont to say when what was done 
at Berea was highly spoken of: 

"What has God wrought, and with instru- 
ments which show that to Him belongs the 
glory!" 




No. 2— SECOND OF THE COLLEGE BUILDINGS. 
Many students roomed in the attic. 



''EXTENSION WORK!' 149 



CHAPTER XV. 

*^ EXTENSION WORK." 

Berea College from its beginning was sui 
generis, and, while folloAving in the general 
line of other colleges, had its peculiarities 
in work and methods. This was a neces- 
sary result of the purpose of its founders to 
work along the lines of God's providence. 

Education as an end was not its object, 
but as a means to a wiser, fuller and more 
Christian life. So from the beginning its 
teachers and many of its students were en- 
gaged in a sort of extension and settlement 
work, long before these terms came into 
general use. Their mission was not only to 
those who came to school, but to all those 
whom they could influence. They did not 
wait for those who needed lielp to come to 
them; they went after them, and with every 
sort of help they could furnish. Their great- 
est desire Avas to make them better people, 
but they were also eager to make them more 
prosperous in every way. To this end some 
of the leading Bereans were almost always 
on horseback. They scoured the country as 



I50 BEREA COLLEGE 



do prospectors for gold, sometimes making 
long excursions. 

Soon after the close of the first term of 
the Berea School, which has been described 
in these pages, Mr. Fee and :Mr. Rogers 
made a long trip into the southeastern part 
of the State, and the latter wrote a series 
of lettei'S describing the country and peo- 
pie for the New York Independent, from 
which extracts have been given at the close 
of the second chapter of this history. 

These letters and what Avas written for 
the New York Evangelist and the American 
Missionary INIagazine are believed to be the 
first describing to the people of the East 
this region, and justify the declaration of 
President Frost that Berea College was 
the discoverer of the noble mountain people 
of what he so appropriately names '^\ppa- 
lachian America." 

Sunday schools were sustained by Bereans 
in some instances from twenty to forty 
miles away. Sunday afternoons would wit- 
ness troops of teachers and students pouring 
forth from Berea in every direction, most of 
them on liorseback, but some on foot, with 
Bibles, Gospel songs and papers galore. If 
some of the students possibly had a little 
desire in all this to show their superior wis- 
dow, they did not get that spirit from their 



"EXTENSION WORK" 151 



teachers, who knew themselves and their 
lack too well to indulge consciously in self- 
conceit. At this time and ever since not 
the least of the blessings of the school have 
been the result of the work of the students 
while at Berea and when they went to their 
homes and elsewhere to teach and impart 
that knowledge and culture which they 
themselves had obtained. A large part of 
the Berea students taught schools, and were 
compelled to do so in order to continue 
their studies, and in this way the college 
helped far more who never saw its walls 
than those who had its direct instruction. 
The indirect influence, especially of the 
young women in the neighborhoods where 
they taught, was far greater than they 
knew, and helped to change the modes of 
thinking and living through an extensive 
region, and most especially did they help in 
giving higher ideals of the work and mis- 
sion of women*. The extension work now 

♦The saddest feature of the mountains is the joyless- 
ness of the women. The finer feelings of their gentler 
nature are not developed to any suitable extent. They 
are faithful and true, but marry very early and become 
prematurely old. Their intercourse, except with their 
nearest neighbors, is very slight, and they lack those 
comforts and elegancies which especially appeal to the 
female heart. If the blessings of the Berea school have 
been great to the young men, they have been far greater 
to the young women. 



152 BEREA COLLEGE 



carried on so successfully and reaching into 
neighboring States, with libraries and lec- 
tures on every subject of practical interest, 
is but the development of what was then 
begun, only this later work is far beyond 
what the most sanguine at that time hoped. 

As professors were added to the teaching 
force, they were often ministers as well as 
teachers. AVhile one of the pastors, Mr. 
Fee or Mr. Rogers, expected to be in the 
Berea pulpit on Sunday, the other ministers 
tilled appointments as they could in the re- 
gions beyond. It was not a rare occurrence 
as they were traveling some of those moun- 
tain paths to miss their way, but they sel- 
dom failed to meet their appointments and 
were sure of finding an audience, for it came 
to be understood that the Berea ministers 
would not fail them. At this time lectures 
except on education were rare, but the very 
presence of men of knowledge and culture 
in the homes of those in the hill country, 
and there not with an air of superiority, 
but as their fellows, with a common inter- 
est in life in all its various relations, was 
a stimulus and paved the way for better 
things in the future. It was slow work, 
but it was laying the foundations strong of 
that which has appeared later in such com- 
parative fullness. 



"EXTENSION PFORK" 153 

The college and the village which grew up 
around it were one in heart and purpose, 
and the people of the town united with the 
teachers in their Sunday work. Mr. Wil- 
liam Embree, a merchant of Berea, was one 
of the most conspicuous in the eav\y Sunday 
school work, going every Saturday to 
'•Chinkapin Rough," forty miles into the hill 
country, at a sacrifice to liis business, to 
hold Sunday schools and give helpful talks, 
which were excellent lay sermons. 

Laborious as was this work of preaching 
and teaching Sunday schools so far from 
Berea, the rewards of the toil Avere great, 
not only in the blessings which came to 
those who were taught, but to the teachers 
themselves. Their own spirits were lifted 
up and occasionally the fullest revelations 
of Christian truths in all their lives came 
to them. After preaching the precious news 
of forgiveness and help for every time of 
need, as they rode homeward, sometimes in 
the twilight, sometimes late at night, and 
not rarely along the lofty mountain ridges, 
where a few feet from the path was a prec- 
ipice on one side, and on the other a de- 
clivity almost perpendicular, their hearts 
would be greatly moved, not witli fear, for 
there was no danger, but with a sense of 



154 BEREA COLLEGE 



God's greatness and nearness and His love 
for men. At one spot there was a real Beth- 
el, a phice of God's manifestation, as to 
Jacob oji his journey. This was on the loft- 
iest mountain overlooking Berea and the 
Blue Grass bej^ond. Here on the summit, 
awa3' from the road, one of the missionaries 
as he passed that way was wont to turn 
aside, view the rolling country and medi- 
tate and lift his heart upwards. On one 
of tliese occasions he had a vision. It was 
not a trance or with closed eyes, but scarce- 
ly less real than if he had seen the man 
Christ Jesus in bodily form. The question 
came to him if he would follow in the steps 
of his Master and labor for those in the re- 
gion under his eyes, as Jesus did in Gali- 
lee, and at the cost of his life. The strug- 
gle was long and real, but finally through 
Christ's help he said yes, and with much 
expectation that his life would literally be 
taken. He never passed near the spot with- 
out recalling the vision, and in some meas- 
ure repeating the decision, though with less 
vividness. P^or some years he was almost 
surprised that his life was spared. 



COLLEGE— CHURCH 1 55 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE COLLEGE AND CHURCH. 

For many j'ears there was but one church 
at Berea, and the college, with its profes- 
sors and students, was to a large extent the 
source of its life and power. Mr. Fee was 
the founder of the church and continued its 
chief pastor, but not long after the reopen- 
ing of the school Mr. Rogers was made as- 
sociate pastor. Though their apprehensions 
of truth differed somewhat, they worked to- 
gether in harmony as long as Mr. Rogers 
remained in Berea. Both had a deep sense 
of individual responsibility, and one of them 
had in addition a full beiief in the organic 
unity of the whole church. Both believed 
its manj' divisions contrary to the mind of 
Christ, and were eager for church unity, 
though not entirely agreed as to the way in 
which that unity was to be secured. 

Both were eager to bring people into the 
church, though one of them magnified more 
fully the work of instruction and growth 
after persons were thus received. 

The elements in the church as well as 




lIliiiM^^^l^TNi^illlllllllllliillilll.ii.illlllllllllllllllllllllH 
A TYPICAL KENTUCKY CABIN IN THE 
MOUNTAINS. 



COLLEGE— CHURCH 157 



the school were very diverse. Not a few 
were pronounced immersionists, though fel- 
lowshippnig those who had not been im- 
mersed. Some of the members were very 
young, and others had grey heads; some had 
been trained in the sober worship of New 
England, and others, especially the colored 
people, where religious emotions were in- 
clined to run riot. 

Some liad been Baptists, Methodists, Pres- 
byterians and Congregationalists, with all 
varieties of each of these denominations. 
They were of as many denominations as 
were the nationalities at Jerusalem on the 
day of Pentecost. As all were fused into 
one church by the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, 
a measure of the same spirit enabled the 
Bereans to walk together. Of course there 
were differences that threatened dissensions, 
and often these dissensions were over mat- 
ters of little moment. It may seem strange 
to some that even the question of the use 
of an organ in worship should cause fric- 
tion, but happily those who wished an or- 
gan preferred harmony of spirit to harmony 
in voices, and waited for others to see as 
they did themselves, and at last all were 
agreed to its use. 

From time to time there was an inclina- 



158 BEREA COLLEGE 



tion on the part of some to organize a Meth- 
odist church, or a colored church, or some 
form of Baptist church; but this tendency 
was discouraged, so that for more than for- 
ty years there was but the one church in the 
place, with a good degree of harmony among 
its members. The principal reason for this 
has been given, but tliis unity was lielped by 
the fact that tlie common interests of all 
alike were centered in the college. 

The principal of the school deeply mourn- 
ed that in the thoughts of many the college 
interests were paramount to those of the 
church, and this feeling was shared by Mr. 
Fee. 

A great deal that was desirable was left 
unaccomplished for the lack of more abund- 
ant organization and church care, but nev- 
ertheless the church and college worked to- 
gether, accomplishing results of great and 
permanent value. 



ORGANIZATION 1 59 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ORGANIZATION AND DISCIPLINE. 

Enthusiasm and hope have been given as 
characteristics of the school, but to these 
must be added the full and unwavering pur- 
pose by the teachers to secure thorough and 
accurate scholarship by every possible 
means. Shipshod ways v^^ere frowned upon 
as destructive, and constant tests were used 
so that the scholars should know their de- 
ficiencies. Reviews and examinations, writ- 
ten and oral, were in constant use. The 
teachers tried to impress upon those under 
tlieir care that a vague, misty knowledge 
of a subject was often worse than no knowl- 
edge at all, and that it would iniure the tone 
of their minds and destroy that confidence 
in their own powers essential to success. 
Organization into classes and the arrange- 
ment of courses of study were made at the 
very beginning, though by reason of the di- 
versity of age and previous training of the 
pupils this was no easy task. Scarcely had 
the school been reopened after the war when 
students began coming from the North, and 



i6o BEREA COLLEGE 



many of them were from families of high 
culture. The presence of these was a great 
blessing, for although there was a marked 
contrast between them and many of the 
other students, the example of the teachers, 
professors and their families, and a measure 
of Christian spirit, kept them from showing 
any feeling of superiority. 

But notwithstanding all the efforts to sus- 
tain as high a grade of scholarship as could 
be found anywhere, the teachers often had 
to mourn over the shortcomings of many, 
but often they were cheered at the courage 
and perseverance of those who were com- 
pelled to go over and over again the studies 
which their first attempts failed to master. 
The differences of scholarship were by no 
means always on the line of color, but those 
from cultivated families with an educated 
ancestry certainly had great advantages 
over the others. 

The friends of the institution were from 
the first solicitous about the success of its 
discipline, but the atmosphere of the place 
was such as to foster obedience, reverence 
and good behavior. The opposites were met 
by frowns from all. Then all were too busy 
and had too many sensible recreations to 
give them time or the desire for unseemly 



OK GANIZA TION 1 6 1 



pranks. The isolation of the village, too, 
was a great help to good order. 

It was feared by some of the warmest 
friends of the college and those most eager 
that its doors should be open to all that the 
admission of colored students would inter- 
fere with the best progress and discipline, 
but these fears were not realized. By rea- 
son of rigid and constant examinations stu- 
dents Avere Ivcpt in the classes where they 
belonged. The colored people of Ken- 
tucky, as Horace Greeley once told the writ- 
er, were the best in the country, and it was 
only the best of these wlio found tlieir way 
to Berea. As a rule the^^ were self-respect- 
ing and eager to deport themselves in an 
unexceptional manner. 

While no one of the colored graduates of 
Berea has become as famous as Booker 
Washington, j^et she lias sent forth not a few 
(and on this point the writer speaks from 
knowledge) as noble as lie, and well equip- 
ped for the places they have been called 
to fill, from the tidewater of Virginia to 
the far West. 

At one time, through the misguided no- 
tions of some, difficulties were threatened; 
but these notions were not approved, and 
through wise regulations and patient and 



1 62 BEREA COLLEGE 



loving care-taking- tlie tlireatened troubles 
soon passed away and never rose again to 
serionsly disturb the harmony of the school. 
The exhibition at the close of the first 
term of the school already described, be- 
came a sort of model for the annual com- 
mencements, although some years necessa- 
rily passed before there were college grad- 
uates. These commencement exercises were 
held as at first, under a leafy bower, which 
was decorated with much skill and good 
taste. These gatherings always brought 
crowds of people from near and far. The 
old-fashioned New England college com- 
mencement has gone, and w^hile those of 
Berea College were never a reproduction of 
these, they were like them in many respects, 
certainly in enthusiasm and crowds, only 
those in Berea were more joyous occasions 
and attended by greater numbers. The writ- 
er remembers wlien a small boy attending 
a Yale College commencement, and, by rea- 
son of the crowded house, sitting upon one 
of the steps leading to the stage, and the in- 
terest of the people as the young men re- 
ceived their diplomas, but there was no 
such abandon of enthusiasm as at a Berea 
commencement. Hundreds of horses would 
be picketed on the college green, where 



ORG AN IZ A TION 1 63 



thousands of people were gathered to see 
the school and hear the students and have 
a good time. They came on foot, on horse- 
back or in rude carts, sometimes traveling 
thus for nearly a hundred miles over rough 
roads. From the first, to that region com- 
mencement was the great holiday of the 
year, when the fine music and good speak- 
ing were greatly enjoyed. 

The necessity of much coercive discipline 
on the part of the teachers was also dimin- 
ished by the pressure from without. It has 
been said that the college paid little atten- 
tion to lawless bands riding through the 
place and other marks of opposition, but 
this was because it had a great work on its 
hands, and could not stop long enough to 
be greatly disturbed by any ordinary dan- 
gers. One of the great annoyances to the 
Bereans for many years, as has been men- 
tioned, was the frequent visits of drunken 
men riding their horses at breakneck speed 
through the town, yelling like madmen, 
shooting recklessly their revolvers right and 
left. Though, fortunately, no one of the 
Bereans was ever hurt, yet the whizzing of 
bullets was often dangerously near the ears 
of those passing by or within their homes 
and did much to disturb the quiet of the 




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ORGANIZATION 165 



community. The writer remembers at one 
lime seeing a person riding along the street 
nearest to Howard Hall, a dormitory accom- 
modating eighty students, draw a revolver 
and fire sliots at the building where students 
were sitting at the open windows. Efforts 
to arrest and punish tliese trespassers were 
usually unavailing. 

The opposition from without was confined 
to the rougiier class and was such as to 
bind all Bereans closer to each other. The 
students, though at times greatly disturbed, 
learned lessons of self-control, and in imitat- 
ing their teachers were enabled to catch a 
glimpse of a higher spirit than that of re- 
venge. 

All were interested in the improvement 
of the college campus, one of the finest in 
the land. Where students and professors 
worked together with theodolite and ax, 
and grubbing hoe, they were all the more 
eager to work together for the attainment 
of knowledge. If at any time there was 
real danger to the students the teachers 
rushed to the front to avert any threatened 
attack. Students Avere slow to make trou- 
ble for a teacher who stepped in between 
them and those who threatened them, or 
-.'U'jhed to their rescue when the clicking of 



1 66 BEREA COLLEGE 



pistols indicated serious danger. The crowd- 
ed, busy iife of all gave little time for 
dwelling unduly upon these things, unpleas- 
ant as they were, and banished for the 
most part thoughts of fear. 



SUMMARY 167 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

SUMMARY. 

The purpose of the writer to give briefly 
the antecedents of Berea College and its 
early history has been in a measure fulfilled. 
The characteristics of that part of the Ap- 
palachian region lying in the State of Ken- 
tucky, for which the college was originally 
designed, have been described, and the work 
of the American Missionary Association and 
its pioneer missionaries in this section, and 
also the toil and sufferings of its heroes. 

The beginning of the higher educational 
work has also been outlined, and as the re- 
sult of this the establishment of Berea Col- 
lege. The course of the school, until the 
John Brown raid, has been briefly traced, and 
the result of that raid in driving the main 
supporters of the school from the State. 

The exiles have been seen returning at 
the close of the war, and the school reopen- 
ed, but partly deserted soon after because 
colored persons were admitted. 

It has been shown that the teachers were 
not disheartened by this new trial, but went 



1 68 BE RE A COLLEGE 



oil courageously, though at the moment 
many of the pupils left. 

The course of the college for three years 
after this has been traced. Students have 
been seen flocking to Berea by hundreds, 
some from the mountains, some from the 
Blue Grass (mainly colored), and some from 
the North, and college buildings rising as if 
by magic to meet the fast growing needs, 
and the means used amid difficulties to 
raise money for these and other expenses 
have been pointed out. 

The cheerful courage amid poverty and 
opposition has been noticed, and something 
of the efforts to make thorough scholars. The 
beginning of the great extension work of 
later years has not escaped attention, and 
an attempt has been made to describe the 
real inner life of this school, which would 
not die, but when put down would rise again 
in greater vigor. Some of its difficulties 
have been hinted at, while others have not 
been noticed at all, such as the long and try- 
ing work of the trustees and Presidential 
Committee in purchasing lands*, laying out 

♦As soon as the College Constitution was agreed upon 
several of the trustees, on their own responsibility, 
bought a considerable tract of land for College purposes, 
which in due time was turned over to the chartered Col- 
lege. Afterward several hundred acres were purchased 
and a town laid out and village lots sold. 



SUMMARY 169 



the college grounds and in planning and lo- 
cating college buildings and laying out a 
town, witli little outside help. It is a mat- 
ter of congratulation when an expert archi- 
tect and landscape gardener, the one who 
has charge of the buildings and grounds of 
Yale College, recently came to Berea to in- 
spect the past work, and make plans for 
buildings and the grounds in the future, that 
he approved the original plans and arranged 
for their extension. All these things have 
been simply outlined, and some very import- 
ant things have not even been mentioned, 
as the gradual change in the relations of 
the college to the people of the State, and 
its helping to provide a better common school 
education throughout the Commonwealth. 
Enough, however, has been told to show the 
truth of what was the constant refrain of 
one whose hands had been upon the college 
from its embryonic State, What hath God 
wrought! 

That in three years the school had be- 
come so great a power, securing grounds and 
buildings and an increasing constituency, 
with teachers and college professors, and 
had been thoroughly organized into differ- 
ent departments in so brief a time, certain- 
ly showed that the good hand of God had 



170 BEREA COLLEGE 



been upon the enterprise. Though all this 
had been done with cheerfulness, it had not 
?3een done without the expenditure of a 
great deal of strength and the very life-blood 
of those most responsible for carrying on 
the work. Mr. Fee felt that he could not 
give in the future so much time to raising 
money, and Mr. Rogers was experiencing 
the beginning of that break-down which 
compelled him later to hand in his resigna- 
tion as pastor and professor. 

But the work could not stop; it was going 
on with increased prosperity, and if the 
strengtli of some was failing, fresh blood 
must be introduced. 

At this time Mr. Rogers, after consulting 
with many friends of the college, urged very 
strongly that E. H. Fairchild, then at the 
head of the large Preparatory Department 
at Oberlin College, be invited to become 
President. He had many superior qualifica- 
tions for the office; he belonged to a family 
of college presidents; he believed in the 
school; he had preached, lectured, taught and 
managed young men in the largest depart- 
ment of Oberlin College, all with marked 
ability, and had been also very successful 
in raising money for that college. 

Accordingly he was called to be President 



SUMMARY 171 



of Berea College, and after coming and look- 
ing over the ground carefully, accepted the 
office, though called about the same time to 
the presidency of two other colleges. His 
coming marks a new step forward in the 
college history, and with his coming the 
earlier history of the college closes. When 
the school was reopened in '66, the college 
possessed 109 acres of uncleared woodland, 
worth only a few dollars per acre; it had 
no endowment, no credit, no buildings of 
any kind. 

At the time President Fairchild took the 
presidency the college owned a large tract 
of land, most of it cleared. It had $25,000 
in buildings, the beginning of an endow- 
ment, a constituency of friends who contri- 
buted largely to its support, and who could 
be relied upon to come to its help in time of 
an emergency. A flourishing normal depart- 
ment was furnishing many teachers, both 
white and colored, to the State. Regular 
college classes, preparatory, freshman and 
sophomore, had been organized and mem- 
bers of those classes graduating subsequent- 
ly are now among its useful and honored 
alumni. 

Students were thronging to its doors, form- 
ing the basis for new departments. While 



SUMMARY 173 



prejudice was still strong, many if not most 
of the intelligent men of Kentucky recog- 
nized and respected the character and aims 
of the workers of Berea, while having lit- 
tle faith in their methods. 

Banks promptly loaned money on the note 
of the college, and business men were glad 
of its patronage. 

By President Fair child's sound judgment, 
his practical wisdom, his ability in man- 
aging students and raising money he led 
the college onward. During his administra- 
tion the Ladies' Hall, College Chapel, Lin- 
coln Hall and other smaller buildings were 
erected. 

When later President Frost, with his ripe 
scholarship and experience as professor of 
Greek in Oberlin and his acquaintance with 
educational work in this country and Europe, 
his unusual ability as writer and orator and 
his diversified talents in many directions, be- 
came its President, it was but natural that 
the college should make the great progress 
which has characterized his administration. 

It is good for one of the workers of early 
days to see the college now so largely ful- 
filling the desires of its founders, with 
"manual labor" modernized into "industrial 
education," the spirit of the pioneers commu- 



174 BEREA COLLEGE 



nicated to an ever increasing tlirong of 
workers and students, and tlie larger means 
in prospect wliicli must surely come as it is 
more clearly seen what Berea College is do- 
ing and must do tor great populations in 
one of the most interesting and hopeful re- 
gions of the South. 

This little sketch began with the state- 
ment that Berea College was the creation 
of God's providence, and if the purpose of 
the writer has been at all fulfilled, the read- 
er will see that the same hand which gave 
it its origin has upheld it in all its history. 
It is hoped by him who has penned these 
lines that all who are friends of this school 
dedicated to the Christian education of the 
needy will give thanks for what has been 
already done, and pray that all this may be 
only an earnest of far greater things in the 
days to come. 



